A Tangled Web
by DarylDixon'sLover
Summary: Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.
1. Aftermath

Summary: Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Clint/OC, Wanda/OC, Steve/Darcy, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Tony/Pepper, and Sam/Sharon. Rated M.

 **So, this takes place after Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers 4, in this the Avengers were successful in defeating Thanos and the Black Order, but the story will be AU. Me and WalkingPotterGirl14 hope you enjoy the story.**

A Tangled Web

Chapter 1

* * *

It had been a week since the attack on New York by Thanos, the Mad Titan. The city was slowly recovering. And one of the many people within who was still just trying to live her life, was Jessica Meyer Webster. She walked to the New York Symphony Orchestra. She was trying to keep up a brave face, despite everything that was going on in her life.

She had leukaemia at the age of just twenty-three, after being given the all clear. Everything was so…fucked up.

She was so tired, scared and angry at everything that was going on. Her sister was literally breaking her back to try and come up with a way for her to get better. According to the doctors and specialists, she was in the critical stage. All they could do was make her comfortable.

So, just like that, she was going to die. She swallowed as she saw the opera theatre up ahead. Playing her beloved piano always made her feel better. She stepped into the building, letting out a quiet sigh.

Jessica tied up her dark brown, almost black wavy hair into a messy bun, when she saw the director of the orchestra, Matthew Everhart quietly walk over to her. And from his face, she had a feeling it wasn't going to be good.

"Jessica, you shouldn't have come here...we replaced you after you kept on missing recitals," he said awkwardly, avoiding her hurt expression. Then she got angry.

"So you're firing me?" she asked flatly, hurt. Matthew nodded silently. She shoved past him and began emptying out her locker and left the building, ignoring Matthew who was calling her name.

'Fuck you, Matthew. And fuck Rachel Townsend, who you preferred over me…you asshole,' she thought bitterly, hurt that she'd literally been stabbed in the back by one of her supposed friends.

She had no steady job now. She had rent to pay, not to mention medical bills and utility bills that she had on her as well. She tried to think of a way to get money, looking around the streets.

She then saw a barmaid job, at a local bar and bit her lip, before taking in a deep breath and nodded.

It would have to do.

* * *

Emma Meyer Webster had accepted that when she took the job offer at Stark Tower, she'd be exposed to seeing the Avengers. She would be working with them, and she knew that she would run into them.

But no way in hell did she expect to work with James Buchanan Barnes, or as he preferred being called Bucky by everyone.

She was in the lab with her tool and equipment as she looked at the weapons on the table that needed fixing or being rebuilt. The door opened, and she saw Bucky enter wearily. She offered him a gentle smile, and he nodded at her.

Her iPhone vibrated, and she looked at it to see who had texted her. Calvin had bailed on their dinner date.

She sighs, placing the phone face down. She was tired of him bailing on their dates. It had been basically months since they had gone out. She knew that while everyone else was having fun with their boyfriends or families, the only real one she had was her sister and her lab.

That was about her life now.

"Something wrong?"

Her head snaps up and she realizes with a start that Bucky was still there. Very much there in her lab. Wow. He was so quiet that he barely made a sound. Then again, he had used to be an assassin.

"Yes, sorry," she chuckles awkwardly, looking at the ground. "Just people are being annoying to me. Same old, same old." She clears her throat and walks over to him. "Did anyone tell you what we were going to be working on today?"

Bucky nods, sitting down in one of the chairs. "Steve mentioned some sort of weapon, but can I be honest with you?" She nods. "I don't know jack shit about some of this stuff."

She chuckles. She knew Steve was just trying to get Bucky to be rehabilitated into normal life. He had come to her earlier in the week to ask her to bring him into the lab and give him a job, had said he needed something to do with his hands that was helping people, not hurting people.

Steve, she was used to. He actually wasn't that bad of a friend. His smile was precious though. She didn't understand how someone hadn't swept him off into their lives yet. Bucky, on the other hand, was mysterious. He was quiet and often kept to himself, adding to the vibe. It wasn't anything she was afraid of. She had grown to let go of her fears in her time being here.

But he was definitely one of the quiet people.

"It's alright. Steve's told me about this." She sits down next to him. "The first thing are the guns. I know that you prefer those instead of hand to hand, right?" He nods. "You've been trained with them all your life. But I've been working on some new ones that might suit you well. So, I need your opinion on them and need to know how you use one so I can tune it to your capabilities."

He nods, looking at them quietly. Emma smiles gently and places a hand over his. The subtle movement causes him to look back at her, his brow furrowed.

"The second is a restoration technology."

He looks at her, confusion clearly written in his eyes. "…what?"

She smiles and pulls away. "I know not being able to remember your past is terrible, Bucky." She moves towards the table and rests her hands against the smooth surface. "If anything, I'm sort of the opposite of you. I would give anything to let go of a couple of…bad memories."

He looks at her quietly. "Like what?" She looks back at him, and he raises his hands in defence. "If you don't want to answer, I-"

She shakes her head. "Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong." She smiles sadly and looks down. "Just some bad childhood memories, is all. My sister getting sick, my mother dying…other things that not a lot of people are too fond of remembering." She swallows thickly and lets her emotions go to the side. It wasn't the time to get emotional, especially in front of Bucky. "But you aren't like that, Bucky. You want to remember everything. And I don't blame you."

Emma walks over to him quietly and takes his metal hand. He had been given a new arm due to T'Challa, but she knew that he still felt weary of people around it. He seemed ever shocked she took it.

"I've been developing some sort of memory restoration technology that should bring back about ninety-five percent of your memories." His eyes widen at her numbers. "Not all, but the ones that matter the most. I just need you here so we can keep testing."

He looks at her, almost in shock. And then, slowly, he speaks. "Why are you helping me?" he asks her quietly.

"It's my job," she chuckles. "I work for your people now, and you're important. If I can make your life easier, even with this, then I'm doing a good job." She glances over at her phone as it starts to ring. Quietly, she looks at it to see that it was Calvin. She quickly hits her power button, sending him to voicemail. This was not the time. "I'm here to help you. It's what I love to do." She glances over at the weapons. "And maybe be able to see an Avenger every once and a while. That's pretty cool, too."

Bucky smiled at her then. And good lord, it was a beautiful smile, like the one she'd seen of him at the Smithsonian Museum, in the Howling Commandos exhibit.

It was such a happy smile. It lit up his whole face. Emma got the feeling that Bucky didn't smile a lot given what he had seen, done and what had been done to him. And it was nice that she was seeing it.

"So, this tech...it could help me remember the memories that I've lost because of the memory suppressant machine?" Bucky asked hesitantly, starting to feel hopeful.

Emma smiled and nodded. She guided him over and got the wires ready. Bucky laid down on the medical bed. He noticed that the lab in Stark Tower was very different to the ones that HYDRA and the KGB had used for him in missions and after. It was a lot more...nice.

"Yes. The wires will help you remember memories that the memory suppressant machine made you forget due to the extensive mind wipes. It will be uncomfortable at first, but you'll relax and then it will help you remember," Emma explained gently, Bucky nodded and laid back as the machine began to work. He watched as she went over to a record player in corner.

Soft, soothing 1930's and 1940's music began to play, soothing him. He was guided through a memory that was of his first meeting with Steve…when they were both six years old.

* * *

 _James Buchanan Barnes glared at the bully, Brian O'Malley, who had decided to make fun of Steve for having no father. He was a weak, sickly, dandy boy._

 _Bucky felt angry as he heard Brian taunting and bullying Steve. Saying how Steve's father had probably survived the First World War, and had probably married a woman and had healthy children. The kid looked small compared to them, but he looked angry._

 _At that minute, Steve saw red and charged at Brian, punching him squarely in the face. Brian had ripped his duffle bag and spilled out the contents of his bag. The guy had that coming._

 _"You're a liar! You don't know shit about my pa and my ma, Brian! My mama was an army nurse and my da served with the 107th Regiment. He was a hero!" Steve shouted defiantly. His face turned red with anger and also due to his lack of breathing._

 _Brian and his friends laughed._

 _"You're weak, Rogers. You're all alone and a burden on your mother. I bet she works as a prostitute!" he said snidely. Steve charged at him then, punching him across the face._

 _Brian staggered back in pain, clutching his bloody nose. He glared at Steve with a look of rage, when Bucky strode over angrily. He stood beside Steve. The smaller guy looked confused._

 _"Wrong, fellas. Steve's my best friend and I ain't letting you and your friends badmouth him and his mother. Your mother would be ashamed of you," Bucky said calmly, not in the least bit afraid._

 _Steve looked on in astonishment, struggling to breathe. He looked for his inhaler, as his face turned dark red._

 _"What are you gonna do about it, Barnes? Gonna ask your gypsy mama to put a curse or hex on us?" Brian taunted spitefully. Bucky didn't even flinch, and he punched the punk across the face._

 _Steve watched on in astonishment as Bucky scared off Brian and his friends, before giving him the inhaler. He helped him take it, looking at the young boy._

 _"Easy there, Steve. Deep breaths, don't want you passing out," Bucky urged gently. Steve did as he said and offered the boy a shy smile. He gave him his hand._

 _"I'm Steve Grant Rogers…what's your name?" he asked shyly. Bucky smiled at him. It was a friendly smile._

 _"James Buchanan Barnes. You can call me Bucky, though," he said softly, and the two began walking to the school._

 _"Can we be friends?"_

 _Bucky looks at him quietly before letting out a soft smile. "'Course, Rogers. Why not?" he asks him, before wrapping an arm around his tiny body. "Someone's gotta stop you from getting yourself into trouble."_

 _"They deserved it!"_

 _"I know they did, Steve."_

* * *

Bucky gasps as his eyes open, as if trying to gain air like Steve had back then. He had remembered. He had actually remembered all that time ago. When he had first met him. It had happened. He had remembered.

"Bucky?" He looks over to see Emma walk towards him, almost quietly. "Are you okay?" she asks him quietly.

He looks at her, almost dumbfounded himself, before he pulled her close into him and wrapped his arms around her. His hug was so tight it nearly made her gasp for breath, but she knew it was just an emotional moment for him. It was only natural.

"Thank you," he whispers, his voice almost shaking. She smiles softly and wraps her arms around him as well, letting them rest against his back. A moment later, he pulls away, letting out a hopeful laugh.

"What did you remember?" she asks him.

"Steve and I…when we first met. All those years ago. I remembered that far back, Emma. You…" He shakes his head, looking at her in astonishment. "You're amazing."

She blushes and rolls her eyes. "Oh, be quiet. I'm not that crazy good. This was luck that this actually worked." She rests her hands against his shoulders. "But I'm happy it does. It means we can keep moving forward with it…you might just be Bucky again, Bucky," she says, a soft smile on her lips.

Bucky looks at her quietly, his own smile clear on his face. A moment later, the door to the lab opens and the pair look over to Steve. His own smile develops once he sees theirs.

"I'm guessing everything went well?"

* * *

Clint Barton was having a damn rough time. And he didn't like to admit it, but he really was.

After the battle, he was so tired. He had lost nearly everything, everything was gone. And he felt like absolute shit because of it. And all he wanted was to get a beer and just forget about it all. Maybe get drunk for once in his life.

So as he walked into a bar, titled 'Midnight Bayou,' he walked over to a table and sat down, placing his head in his hands. He needed something to forget everything with. Something better.

But in this world, was there really anything better?

"Can I help you?"

Clint glances up and sees a woman who was standing there, a pad in her hand. She had bags under her eyes, and clearly there was something wrong with her. She had some sort of tired glow around her. But she still had that smile that everyone had to have.

He had to give her props, he didn't know how people dealt with places like this. A million drunkards all just clamouring over waitresses.

"Yeah, just a beer," he says quietly.

She nods, writing it down. "On the rocks?"

"Sure."

She nods and then looks at him. "You're Clint Barton, right?" He seemed shocked that she knew him. "I just wanted to thank you for what you've done for the city, along with the rest of your team. We would probably all be dead now if it wasn't for you guys."

"It was the right thing to do. We weren't just going to stand by and let Thanos kill everyone with his army," Clint said quietly, trying really hard not to think of Laura and her betrayal.

It was still too raw to think about. He had tried really hard to make her happy during their marriage, but it hadn't been enough. He was alone. Again.

"Well, still, I think you and your team were very brave. Would you like anything to eat while waiting?" she asked gently. Clint looked at the menu and chose some jalapeño poppers.

"I'd like some of those, thanks," Clint said gratefully. Jessica nodded and went to give the order. He observed the bar, and saw the people getting drunk around him. He wished he could be as carefree as them.

Funnily enough, Jessica, T'Challa and the country of Wakanda were grateful for their help in stopping Thanos and the Black Order from enslaving everyone and destroying Earth. Vision was gone, or missing. Drax was dead, along with Nebula. His marriage was gone. He'd been so happy to get back to the farm to greet Laura, and he'd found her in bed with that asshole. How long had she been sleeping with him? Behind his back and laughing at him?

He'd gotten rid of the farmhouse. He'd divorced Laura. And he'd moved into Stark Tower, with Lucky, his one-eyed golden Labrador. That was it, along with his guitar, truck and motorcycle.

Not to mention his bow and his arrows. That was the one material thing he had felt the need to bring with him. He felt lost and ran a hand through his dark blonde almost brown hair. He had cut it into sort of a mohawk before the fight with Thanos, but his hair was growing back.

The young woman came back with a plate in her left hand and his beer in her right. She placed it on the table, and he noticed just then the kind of outfit the waitresses were forced to wear. Short black skirts that were above the knee, and white shirts, tight enough that there was really barely anything left to the imagination. Her dark brown, almost black hair was pulled back in a bun. He could see the dark circles underneath her eyes.

She looked dead on her feet.

"Here's your food and your drink. Can I get you anything else?" she asked genuinely. Clint shook his head and swallowed.

"No, this is fine, thank you," Clint said politely. The woman nodded and was about to leave, when he decided to speak. "What's your name?" He asked curiously. She looked at him with a shy, weary smile and sighed.

"Jessica. Jessica Meyer Webster," she said quietly. He noticed that her nails were painted dark red.

"Thanks, Jessica," he said finally. She offered him a smile and went to clean up some tables before her shift ended. Her feet were killing her.

Clint ate his food in silence and drank his beer. He looked at the large plasma TV screen and saw that the UN were considering placing in new laws into the Sokovia Accords following the War with Thanos.

There were also people, mainly politicians, who were blaming Jane Foster for what had happened, arguing that if she hadn't meddled with things, countries wouldn't have been destroyed.

He bit into an jalapeño popper, and felt the heat burn his tongue but in a good way. He ate his meal quietly and finished his beer, before paying the bill. He left a $60-dollar tip for Jessica, along with a note, thanking her for cheering him up and not making a big deal that he'd been in the bar.

* * *

Jessica found the tip and the note from Clint just as she'd finished her shift. Romeo had given her some jalapeño poppers as a treat, bit she was heading to KFC.

Her stomach growled in hunger. Emma had called her and told her that she'd be working late at Stark Tower to help Sergeant Bucky Barnes help regain his memories. Her sister was so lucky to have something like that, a steady job…and here Jessica was…doing nothing with her life now…what little bit of it she had left…

She said goodbye to Emma, and wished her well. She got KFC for the both of them, and ordered a ten-piece wicked variety meal with ten chicken strips, and ten hot wings.

She was hungry and so would Emma be when she got home. She walked to the apartment and let herself in, before stroking Starling, Tom, Jack, Bonnie and Clyde, along with Paul, Custard and Patch. Maybe they were a bunch of cat ladies, but hey, the animals were cute.

Since their apartment was more like a house, the cats were able to run around and into the garden. She set the food down and had a quick shower and washed her hair, before getting into a pair of black legging styled sweatpants and a grey t-shirt. Jessica put her food on a plate and left Emma's food on a plate in the microwave.

The cats were eating their food, with fresh water in their bowls. She quietly tucked into the chicken, and bit into the spicy food. It was almost orgasmic in her mouth.

Jessica sighs and eats her food more, glancing outside. She knew that Emma was off doing fantastic things. But here she was, really just wasting her life away surrounded by a million cats. Maybe she was kinda crazy, but at least she wasn't homeless.

Life could be a lot worse.

She quietly thinks back to the quiet man in the bar, remembering how he hadn't even seemed fazed by her compliment. He was probably used to getting them now, but he seemed almost tired, downtrodden. Obviously, she would know he would be, as would his team.

When you go up against a God, that sort of thing usually happens.

But there had been something else in his eyes that made him look almost…sad. Something that was hidden deep within them. But Jessica, with all her time, didn't have the amount of patience she should have to really look deeper into it.

He was a handsome man, though. In a gruff way. Falling in love or even in lust or anything like that seemed almost pointless to her at this stage in her life. She was going to die soon anyway, so what was the point of finding the one when she wouldn't even be able to stay with them? Now, she sort of just looked at guys for shits and grins.

Clint Barton was good-looking. Well, most of the Avengers were. She didn't doubt that. He just seemed to be…down on himself. He had written in his note that she had cheered him up, and in a weird way, Jessica was sort of proud of herself for being able to do that. It was nice that she was the reason maybe one person was smiling after a shitty day.

Well…at least one of them would be smiling.

* * *

Emma runs her hands through her hair for the umpteenth time that night. It seemed that every time she came close to something that might be able to help her sister, she got farther away. She had told Jessica that she would be staying late to help Bucky, but truly that had only lasted for a little while.

Honestly, she was staying in the lab to try and figure out a way to cure her sister. Her sister had been through so much shit in her life, and didn't deserve to die like this. Not like this.

Emma wasn't going to allow it.

Everyone had told her it was pointless, but they had never met her. They had never seen what she was capable of. She could make a damn explosion out of a pill if she wanted to. But for now, she was just going to figure out how to cure stage four fucking leukaemia.

She just had to have faith.

"Need something?"

She turns around at the voice and was shocked to find Bucky there. He had what looked like a cup of coffee in one of his hands, and another in his pocket. She lets out a sigh. "Why are you up? I told you to sleep after our session," she reprimands.

He chuckles at her stern voice, and God she hated the chuckle but loved it at the same time. It was nice to hear him show amusement at something, but she loathed it when people didn't take her seriously. Just because she was tiny didn't mean she couldn't kick someone's ass.

"I haven't slept well in a long time, doc," he says to her quietly. "These walks are sort of ritual to me now." He hands her the coffee. "Although this is the first time I've seen you here so late. Why haven't you gone home?"

She sighs. Should she tell him? They were already going to be spending time together. It wasn't going to cause any harm. Taking a sip of her coffee, Emma lets out another quiet sigh and glances up at him.

"My sister has really bad cancer. Every single damn doctor has said that it's pointless but I…I need to save her, Bucky. I need to save her and keep her alive. I can't let her die like this. She's been through too much. We both have. And for this to happen to her…" She lets her words trail off, trying to shake away the emotions that surrounded her. "I just need to work hard to figure out how to cure her…I know I can. Somehow."

Bucky looks at her quietly, seeing the bags under her eyes, how her hands shook. And for the first time in a while, he found himself caring about the actual scientists of this building. Most of them poked at him with tools and tricks, but Emma was doing this out of the goodness of her heart.

And it was clear it was taking a toll on her.

"Emma." She looks over at him. "Go home. You can continue you this tomorrow. But you need to rest." She glances at the ground, placing the coffee down. "Seriously…you're tired. I can see it in your eyes."

She sighs and bites her lip. "I know." Emma swallows, before nodding. "Alright…but you get sleep, you hear? I want you to be energized for our next session." She grabs her coat, glancing over at him.

"I'll be fine. Just get home safely, okay, doc?"

She smiles a bit. "I will…sleep tight, Bucky." And with that, she was out the door.

Bucky glances at it as it closes, and quietly, he places his hands in his pockets. "You too, doc," he mumbles to himself, before exiting the lab as well.

* * *

 _We hope you enjoyed the first chapter, enjoy and review or add to favourites and follow :)_


	2. Break On Through

Summary: Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Clint/OC, Wanda/OC, Steve/Darcy, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Tony/Pepper, and Sam/Sharon. Rated M.

 **I do not own Marvel or the characters. I only own Emma and Jessica Webster, and if I did own the films, Bruce/Natasha would not have happened.**

 **Special thanks to,** **.witch, and BuckyBarnes07 for reviewing, following and adding the story to favourites and Harukawa Ayame for following the story and adding to favourites**

A Tangled Web

Chapter 2

* * *

Clint got back to Stark Tower silently, and saw Lucky waiting for him. He smiled and stroked the dog affectionately as he placed the jalapeño poppers on the table along with the pepperoni pizza that he'd gotten from the local pizza place.

He bit into it and gave a slice to Lucky, who happily ate it, before eating his bowl of dog food and drank from his bowl of water. Clint went to the couch, sitting for a moment and running his hands through his hair.

He felt so tired of everything. He'd tried so hard to make Laura happy and she'd supported him being an Avenger, but clearly, she saw him as trash along with the guy that she'd been fucking.

Clint ran a shower and drank some water, before taking out his hearing aids. He placed them on the bedside table, as Lucky sat at the end of the bed contently.

He wasn't going to go off the deep end. He wouldn't give Laura the satisfaction of him doing that.

He'd move on. Somehow.

* * *

Jessica woke up to see it was 9:04 AM in the morning, and she could hear Emma in the kitchen. She carefully got out of bed, feeling dizzy as she stood up and gripped the wooden desk tightly for a minute. Her forhead broke out in a sweat.

Fuck, please not another dizzy spell.

She took in a few deep breaths, before going out into the kitchen. She saw Emma making American buttermilk pancakes with maple syrup and blueberry syrup. There were Belgian waffles with maple syrup as well.

"Morning, Jess. Did you sleep alright?" she asked gently. Jessica smiled and nodded at her older sister, as she sat down at the table and had breakfast.

"I slept alright. Did you sleep ok?" Jessica asked quietly. Emma smiled at her reassuringly as she tied up her dark blonde, almost dirty hair in a messy bun.

"I slept ok. Now don't forget that we need to be at Metro-General Hospital at 1:40 PM, Jess," Emma said softly. Jessica nodded in understanding, her dark hazel eyes dimming slightly.

Emma squeezed her hand tightly, comforting her as she watched her go to the bathroom to have a shower. Emma began sorting through the bills and paying them off, letting out a low sigh.

* * *

Bucky was feeling slightly more at ease as he sat in the lab and waited for Emma to arrive. A few minutes later, he saw Emma come in. She was wearing a pair of black jeans and a grey t-shirt. She smiled at him.

"Good morning, Bucky," Emma said softly. Bucky offered her a small smile, and she smiled at him. She did some tests to make sure he was healthy, and got him a glass of water.

"Morning, Emma," Bucky said quietly. She smiled and he leaned back on the bed as he saw Emma writing some notes down on her clipboard. As she wrote, a man suddenly entered the lab. Both looked up.

"Calvin, what's wrong?" Emma asked surprised. Calvin worked with the SI Division that worked the government. Following the war with Thanos, and his knowledge of alien weapons, and biological science.

"I won't be able to take you out to dinner tonight, Emma. Home Secretary Ross needs my help on something," Calvin said bluntly, not sounding the least bit upset about ruining their plans.

Emma kept her face smooth, and simply glared at him. This was the fourth time that he'd bailed on their date.

"Go on ahead, Calvin," she said calmly. Calvin glared at her and walked out of the room. She adjusted the wires and made sure Bucky was hooked up to an IV.

"So…that's Calvin?" Bucky asked finally. Emma nodded unhappily and she sighed.

"Our relationship isn't going well lately. He's an old friend of Home Secretary Thaddeus Ross, and he strongly supports the Accords. Even if they breach some human rights laws and democracy." She said bitterly. He looked at her, deciding to change the subject.

"How's your sister?" he asked quietly. Emma smiled sadly and sat down in the chair beside him. She got the laptop started up on the programs and had monitors hooked up to him.

"She's...she's putting up a brave face. I just need to find something that could help her. It's like all the doctors and specialists have given up on her. I just hope this appointment goes well, and she gets accepted into the blood transfusion research study," she said finally, but deep down she was frightened.

"She sounds tough, your sister and you," Bucky said comfortingly. Emma smiled, and he allowed himself to be pulled into restoration machine.

* * *

 _Everything hurt. He couldn't feel his left arm. He opened his eyes weakly to see that he was in a room, and strapped onto an operating table. The doctor with glasses smiled at him._

 _"Sergeant Barnes, you will be the new cost of HYDRA!" Arnim Zola proclaimed proudly. He saw a metal arm was attached to his left side, and he felt sick._

 _'Where am I…where's Steve?' he thought fearfully. One of the Soviet soldiers showed him a newspaper clipping of Steve having crashed into the Atlantic Ocean to stop the Red Skull, and was believed dead._

 _No...no, Steve couldn't be dead. He couldn't be._

 _He had seen him. He had seen him right there. He couldn't be gone…_

 _Sadness coursed through his body like the sea washing over the sad, over and over and in waves stronger than the ones before. Until he became mad. Mad with anger and sour over everything that had happened to him. Anger that he was somehow alive, and Steve…was dead._

 _He was dead._

 _Bucky screamed out and tried to attack the man that was nearest to him, using the metal arm that was starting to hurt even more than it did before. But as soon as he went out to try and kill the fucker, a source of electricity went straight through his body._

 _He yelled out in pain, and flew back onto his body. Fuck, everything hurt. Everything hurt._

 _The last thing he saw was blackness._

* * *

Bucky gasps as he opens his eyes, looking around wildly. Emma quickly comes over and calms him down, placing him back on the medical bed gently. "Breathe, Bucky," she says to him softly.

He takes a few deep breaths, looking at her eyes. They actually looked comforting, almost sweet. As if they understood the pain he was going through. But he knew that was basically impossible. There was no one in this world that could understand what went through his mind.

Not even the doctor who was mentally in it.

After a few deep breaths, he looks down at the table, his body shaking. "Are you alright?" she asks him.

He shakes his head. "No…not at all…"

She rubs his back gently, before reaching over and grabbing a glass of water. "That's the one downside to this. Bad memories come back that you didn't remember before." She watches as he takes the glass of water and gulps it down, as if it might be his last glass ever.

After a moment, he leans back, taking a deep breath. "I…I think I need a break," he admits.

She nods. She knew this would be hard for him, that there might be some comebacks from him getting his memories back. But she knew deep down that it had to be worth it. And so, did he.

Even if some of the memories were bad.

* * *

Jessica walked into Starbucks later on in the day, wanting to get some sort of charge for the tiredness that hit her. She knew she would be getting weaker every day until she just caved, but while she was still walking, the least she could do was somehow find some coffee to fix that.

Even if coffee, necessarily, was bad for her.

As she walked into the coffee shop and ordered her coffee, she waited patiently. At that moment, she hears the door open, and her eyes glance over to who had come in. There was Clint, the man from the night before, walking over to the coffee station as well.

Curious, she doesn't call out, but simple examines from a little while away. She notices he orders a black coffee, no sugar, no milk. Maybe it was a rough day for him and he just needed something to wake him up. She didn't blame him.

She would need that some days as well.

After a moment, his eyes suddenly move to where she was standing, and a quiet blush comes over her cheeks. Shit, she had been caught staring.

"Hey," he says, making the first move. Dear God, thank you. "You're the waitress from the other night. Jessica, right?" She nods as he comes over to her. "Small world to see you here. In a city with eight million people." She chuckles and nods.

"Yeah, it is a little weird," she chuckles. His coffee is handed to him and he nods towards a table.

"Have time to talk?" he asks her.

She smiles a bit. "Sure." She really couldn't believe he was asking to sit and talk with her, but she made her way over like a boss, keeping her inner excitement under wraps. The pair quietly sit down and he glances outside. "I'm guessing you have a lot of stuff going on," Jessica says to him quietly. "With everything happening. I know my sister is in Stark Tower helping out."

His brow raises. "Who's your sister?"

"Emma. She works in the lab. I'm sure you know her."

"Yeah, I know her alright. Emma's a good person. She's been helping Bucky out with remembering all of the memories that he lost whenever HYDRA brainwashed him," Clint said quietly. Jessica nodded in agreement, proud of her older sister.

"Emma's brilliant at that sort of thing. She always wanted to help people," Jessica said fondly. Worry surged into her as she thought of who would look out for Emm when she died.

Tony would look out for her, she knew that. So would Pepper. Someone would be by her side. She looked at her coffee in silence, before looking at Clint and saw he was wearing a black, well-worn leather jacket.

She noticed he had an Iowa accent, and he must have moved to New York…for some reason.

Clint saw her expression turn sad for a moment. He wondered what she was thinking about that made her so sad.

"Everything alright?" he asked quietly.

She nodded and gave him a reassuring smile, as she sipped from the styrofoam cup of coffee. Clint put some sugar in his.

"So, what do you do?" he asked curiously. Jessica shifted in her seat self-consciously, thinking of how she'd once been a pianist at a famous orchestra, and was now a waitress at a dive bar.

"Well, I used to be a pianist at the New York Orchestra before I got fired. Now I'm a waitress at Midnight Bayou, as you saw last night," Jessica admitted truthfully. She didn't see the point in lying.

"Why'd you get fired?" Clint asked surprised. Jessica sighed quietly and ran a hand through her dark brown, almost black hair. She looked at him with her strange, dark hazel eyes.

"I got fired because I was ill and constantly needed to go to the hospital, to see the doctors…guess they just couldn't handle that," she said dryly, running her fingers over her left arm. She could see the faded scar from the bone marrow transplant that she'd had when she was sixteen years old in high school.

Clint looked at her quietly. So that explained why she looked so tired and pale last night when she had been serving him. She was sick.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you getting better?" Clint asked quietly, wondering if this was why Emma was so determined to help Bucky and fix his mind.

"…no. I'm on borrowed time at the moment, Clint…really anything could happen," Jessica said resignedly. She was accepting the fact that she was going to die at just twenty four years old. She hadn't even visited places like New Orleans, Chicago, Great Britain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Las Vegas or Hawaii…all the locations in the world she had dreamed of visiting.

She'd always wanted to go to those places, but she very much doubted that she would. Jessica looked at Clint quietly, and saw that he had dark grey eyes.

Clint looked at her quietly. Did that mean that Jessica was dying or something? He hoped for her sake and for Emma's that it wouldn't happen.

"What about you, how are you?" Jessica asked quietly. Clint was silent for a while. He looked up at her with a faint smile.

"I'm divorced at the age of thirty-three, and after fighting Thanos, I found my wife in bed with another man," he said finally. Jessica cringed, and looked at him with sympathy.

"Damn, what a bitch," she mumbles, before looking over at him. "I'm sorry, Clint. No one deserves that." Her voice was sad. She hadn't had the chance of having a steady boyfriend. She was still a damn virgin at the age of twenty-four.

She really hoped that she didn't end up like that guy from that film. What was it called? Oh right, The Forty Year Old Virgin.

If she even made it to forty.

"It's not your fault, Jessica," he said with a wry smile. She smiled back as she saw it was getting close to 1:40 PM.

"I gotta go now. I have to go to the hospital appointment. See you around…it was nice seeing you, Clint," Jessica said softly. Clint smiled at her, and she saw that he had a lovely smile.

"It was nice seeing you too, Jessica," Clint said quietly. He meant it, as he looked at the dark-haired woman who smiled at him. After that, she left the shop.

There was something mysterious about her.

* * *

Bucky insisted that they continue the session. Emma told him to say stop if it got too much for him. He nodded, giving her a weak smile as they continued on.

He remembered all of his childhood with Steve. His little sister, Rebecca, and his parents. He remembered his first date and then his first kiss. And he remembered the day that he had been drafted into the Second World War.

He remembered the Red Room. He now knew that he had been the one who had trained Natasha as a young girl, and he felt nauseated as he thought of the people he had killed.

Men, women and God...even children. He'd killed innocent people at the orders of HYDRA and the KGB. He felt sick.

* * *

 _December the 16th, 1991_

 _The Winter Soldier calmly got off his motorcycle as he saw the target stumble out of the car. His face was bruised and cut. The man looked at him coming to him._

 _"Please, my wife needs help," he pleaded imploringly. The soldier said nothing and grabbed him by the hair._

 _The man spoke in disbelief and shock._

 _"Sergeant Barnes?" he asked astonished._

 _He didn't even speak. All he did was throw the man into the side of the car. His hands got tighter, and tighter, squeezing out every ounce of life that was in the man bit by bit, until-_

* * *

Bucky gasps again, this time sitting up in the chair. Emma looks at him quietly, resting her hands against his shoulders. "Bucky, look at me. Bucky please."

He swallows, his heart rate slowly slowing down. He glances over at her, and then at that moment, breaks down in tears. She looks at him shocked as he places his head in his hands, almost trying to conceal the pain he was in.

She wraps her arms around him and lets out a soft sigh. Jesus Christ, poor Bucky.

"It's alright, Bucky. It'll be alright," she says softly to him.

She hated seeing him in so much pain, but it was almost required that he feel like this to remember his memories. It was only natural.

A moment later, he calms down, wiping the tears from his face.

"I'm sorry," he whispers. "It's just…Howard…."

She runs a hand down his back, trying to comfort him. "I know. I know." She tilts his face towards her, trying to get him to look at her. "But you have to know that wasn't you, Bucky. That wasn't you and it will never be you. You have to believe that."

He snorts and looks away, almost bitterness within his croaky voice. "What am I to do?" he mumbles. "I'm barely Bucky anymore. I'm barely anything anymore. I'm just…nothing."

Emma looks at him silently before stepping in front of him. "You know what? You're right?" He looks over at her quietly. "Even with all your memories back, you're never really going to be the Bucky you once were. You've had too much happen to you for that to happen. But that doesn't mean you can't be James." She rests a hand on his shoulders. "Bucky, you're you or James or anyone you want to be. Your past, what you did under someone else's control, doesn't define you anymore."

"Doesn't define me?" he asks bitterly. "What about if I wanted to be with someone?" He looks back at the ground. "No woman, alive or dead, would want to be with me. I'm just not…worth it. I'm a monster."

His voice was filled with shame.

* * *

 _Poor Bucky, Clint, Emma and Jessica. Enjoy and review :)_


	3. You Deserve Something Like This

Summary: Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Clint/OC, Wanda/OC, Steve/Darcy, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Tony/Pepper, and Sam/Sharon. Rated M.

 **I do not own Marvel or the characters. I only own Emma and Jessica Webster, and if I did own the films, Bruce/Natasha would not have happened.**

 **Special thanks to,** **.witch, and BuckyBarnes07 for reviewing, following and adding the story to favourites and Harukawa Ayame for following the story and adding to favourites**

A Tangled Web

Chapter 3

* * *

"No, you're not a monster, Bucky. You're a good man. HYDRA made you into the Winter Soldier, not you. You're a good man, you were found innocent of all charges. You can't blame yourself for this. You never asked for this. Everyone knows that you would never hurt anyone, but you can use your skills as an Avenger," Emma said comfortingly.

She paused, before placing her hand on his. He looks over at her.

"You'll find someone who will love you for who are you, Bucky. The Winter Soldier is a part of you," Emma said firmly. She squeezed his hand comfortingly, causing Bucky to smile at this.

"Thanks, Emma," Bucky said quietly. Emma smiled and wiped his tears away with her fingers. After that, she called Steve, who immediately hurried into the lab.

"I think we should finish for today. Steve, stay with him or ask one of the others to stay with him and keep him company. He needs to be with friends, not alone," Emma said quietly to Steve, as they watched Bucky drinking some water from a paper cup.

Steve nodded in understanding and gave her a grateful smile. Bucky looked at her quietly and she smiled at him, as she got ready to leave to go join her sister at the hospital.

"Thanks, Emma…I mean it," Bucky said gratefully. Emma smiled at him and gave him a hug. It comforted him in a strange way.

"You're welcome, Bucky. See you and Steve tomorrow," she said softly. The young woman left the two men in the lab so they could have some privacy and talk.

She hoped Bucky would be alright. She cared about him.

* * *

Jessica sat in the waiting room of Metro-General Hospital, feeling nerves run through her. Emma sat beside her trying to stay calm. She'd phoned their grandmother, and Joanne had immediately wanted to come home from her vacation in Great Britain. Jessica as well as her sister had convinced her to stay so she could enjoy her vacation.

 _'I refuse to ruin grandma's dream holiday. I won't ruin her holiday like I've ruined Emma's life, along with mom,'_ Jessica thought firmly. A doctor called out Jessica's name.

"Jessica Webster?!" Dr. Malcolm Sharpe called patiently.

Jessica stood up and went to the room with Emma at her side. They both sat in the room, and Malcolm closed the door, giving them privacy.

"We have the results from your blood tests, along with your recent bone marrow transplant. I'm so sorry, Jessica. You're in the third stage of leukaemia…it's better than we thought, but there's really not much more we can do," Malcolm said quietly. Jessica felt numb and swallowed thickly as she took in the news.

She was terminal. Really terminal. That meant she was going to die and there was nothing they could do unless it was to make her comfortable for the end of her short life.

"How long…do I have?" she asked finally, trying to keep her voice calm. She could feel her hands tremble in her lap but kept them steady. Emma took her hand.

"Six months. We can give you strong pain medication and a cannabis card that will allow you to purchase cannabis legally," Malcolm said calmly, his eyes sympathetic.

"There must be something that you can do. Surely a bone marrow transplant or a blood donation will save her life?" Emma asked angrily, refusing to give up on her little sister.

"Jessica failed to get into the program due to the medical insurance. We only have three available spaces left," Malcolm said apologetically, but Jessica got the sense that he wasn't upset.

She missed Dr. Jean Grey. She'd treated her as a young teenager and always been kind to her. She had explained things how they were, with no sugar coating or lies.

She told it how it, was and that was it. Not with how it was now.

"I'd like to go now, please," Jessica said quietly. Emma nodded and wrapped her arm around her tightly as they left the room. Emma glared at Malcolm, who had an air of smugness.

"I won't forget this, Dr. Sharpe. All you care about is the fact that you get your money, regardless if your patients can afford the medical insurance," she said coldly, and left.

Jessica signed the papers that the receptionist had given her to sign. She swallowed thickly.

What did people do when they found out that they were going to die in six month's time? Write lists? Write letters to their loved ones or plan for their funerals?

Or write a bucket list?

Her vision suddenly became blurry. She wiped her eyes as Emma took her hand, and they began walking home, not needing to say anything.

Jessica was glad because she couldn't talk. She was so scared, angry and upset at the fact that she'd been rejected from a project that could possibly save her.

And now…it was nothing.

* * *

Emma didn't want to leave her sister alone. Jessica seemed to privately agree, but didn't speak it out loud, so she took her to Stark Tower. That was where they met Pepper, and a beautiful young woman with black wavy hair, and Dr. Jane Foster.

"How did the appointment go, Emma and Jessica?" Pepper asked gently. Emma suddenly couldn't speak. It just felt too real, too painful and raw.

Her little sister was going to die if she didn't figure out a way to save her and soon.

"I'm going to die. Apparently, Dr. Sharpe said that my health insurance doesn't cover the expenses of the medical trial that he's holding, and I've got six months to live. So, all I have is the right to grow and smoke weed, and strong painkillers," Jessica said quietly, causing everyone to freeze.

With that said, Jessica sat down and simply started writing things down in a black book. Clearly she was trying to keep calm.

"I need to go down to the lab and look at some things. I'll be right back, Jess," Emma promised firmly. Jessica smiled at her fondly, her hazel, green eyes bright.

"I'm not going anywhere yet...Em," she said reassuringly, giving her a hug. She watched her older sister leave, as the dark-haired woman came over towards her.

"Why don't I introduce you to everyone? Show you around?" she asked kindly. There was no pity in her eyes.

Thank God. Jessica couldn't stand pity or being the recipient of it. She'd had enough of it during high school, when the bullies would tease her for having bruises and having no dad.

Bitches.

"I'd like that, thanks," Jessica said quietly. The woman smiled at her and offered her a hand.

"I'm Darcy Lewis," Darcy said pleasantly, causing Jessica to smile at her friendliness.

"I'm Jessica Meyer Webster. It's nice to meet you. Pepper's told me and Emma a lot about you, Darcy," Jessica said shyly, as the three of them began walking.

* * *

Emma had been reading over books on spiders when she realized that perhaps, the spiders could save her little sister's life. She read that uncommon spiders had been discovered to have healing qualities in their blood. What about the super soldier serum? Since Steve Rogers had been turned into the first super-soldier, then Bucky and the Red Skull, or known as Johan Schmidt before he had become the Red Skull.

The super soldier serum was known to heal people with weak immune systems. Steve had been frail and sick, and had suffered from weak lungs due to being born seven months early. He'd suffered from long term asthma as a result.

She now knew of a way to save her sister, when she saw Peter Parker entering the lab shyly with Gwen Stacy and their friend, Mary-Jane Watson.

"Hi, you three. How can I help you?" she asked gently, determined not to be depressed in front of the three new Avengers.

"We honestly just wanted to stop by," Peter says quietly. "We know about what's going on with your sister and wanted to offer our condolences about it. It's horrible to find out like that."

"And if we can help in anyway, we're here for that," Mary-Jane says quietly. "Really. We want to help in any way possible."

Emma smiles a bit and sighs. "You three are sweet, but I'm not sure there is much you can…" Her words trail off, as she realizes who she was looking at Spider-fucking-Man, who was bitten by a spider. Who gave him powers. Who made him stronger.

What the hell was she saying?

"Peter…when you were bitten by that spider, was it a specific type of spider?" she asks him quietly.

His brow furrows. "It…wasn't something I knew of off the top of my head. I just knew that it was uncommon and radioactive. I did a little bit of research and found out it's in countries that have warm weather patterns. That's about all I know about that."

"Yes, but you do admit that it did heal a lot of you, right? It made you stronger?" Emma asks him quietly.

He nods. "Definitely. Won't deny that."

Emma nods, looking down at the ground. This was starting to pull together a bit easier. "Thank you, guys," she admits. "Really. Even talking to someone helps with this stuff. I gotta get back to work."

The three teens leave her to her work. Instantly, Emma races over to the bookshelf that was within the lab, and pulled out journals from her mother and father's time together. Before her father's death, they had been so in love. They had travelled the world together, looking all over for mysterious and new things.

And these books might have been what she needed.

Nervous hands flipped through the pages, sticking to the old paper from the sweat that rolled off her fingertips. And within moments, she lands on a page, full of colour and happiness. At least in her mind.

All about the same spider that bit Peter. All about uncommon spider species.

She had hit the motherlode.

After hours of researching and not having even emerged from the lab, it didn't surprise Emma that someone came to check on her. As she turned around, what did surprise her was that it was Bucky. "Bucky," she mumbles. "I thought I told you to go rest."

"I did. And when I woke up I was surprised to see you back here." He walks over to her, resting his hands against the desk she was working at. "Why are you driving yourself crazy over this, doc?" He asks her quietly. "What else can you do for your sister?"

She looks at the journals and sighs. "I'm refusing to give up on her. I love my sister way too much to let her die like this. I already told you about what's been going on with her. I'm not letting this happen." Bucky looks down at her quietly, before slowly taking a seat next to her.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asks quietly.

Emma smiles a bit. Oh, Bucky. He was always trying to bet he nice guy, even if he did sound a bit awkward. "No…there's not much you can. I just…she was always there for me when I was younger. When I was extremely depressed. I just…can't let her go. I can't."

Bucky looks down at the journals that were sitting on her desk, and then back at the paper that was filled with scribbles of numbers and letters that he had no clue how to detect. He was smart, but not the way she was.

But looking at it, he could figure out what she was trying to do.

"Are you trying to find a cure?" He asks her. She looks over at him, and then glances out at the hallway, as if to see if anyone was there.

After that, she turns back to him. "I am, but you can't tell anyone. It's against the Accords to make serums without the UN's approval and I just can't go through that shit right now. Please, Bucky."

He looks down at her quietly before raising his hands in defence. "Then I'll pretend I didn't hear a single bit of that." She smiles softly at him. "But you're doing good…you are, even if the government doesn't think so."

"Thank you, Bucky," she says quietly.

He looks over at her work again. "You're welcome," he replies. She smiles again, but at that moment, the door opens, ruining any sort of private conversation the two could have.

It was Tony.

"How can one little person such as yourself be stuck in this lab all day long?" Tony asks her, walking over. "Have you eaten at all, Emma? You look like you're about to keel over."

"I haven't even realised that I've been here all day, Tony. I'm trying to figure out a way to save Jessica's life and make sure that she never gets sick again. Seeing as Dr. Sharpe has given up on Jess, I refuse to give up on her," Emma said fiercely, feeling close to tears but she had a breakthrough.

Tony looked at her silently and sighed. He knew what she was doing. He wasn't stupid but he wasn't going to stop her from saving her sister's life, even if the UN and Thaddeus Ross didn't agree with it. He didn't want to see one of his close friends die. Especially from cancer. Jarvis's death from lung cancer still haunted him.

Especially Jessica. She was a good person who was a happy young woman. The Starks and Webster families had always been close to each other, and it had strengthened after Jeffrey Webster had disappeared and been presumed dead.

"I'm not gonna rat you out, Em. I know you're doing the right thing...just be careful, and for crying out loud if you are travelling abroad, just let me know so I can cover for you," Tony said finally. Emma looked at the two of them with a grateful expression. She looked like she wanted to cry.

She hugged them both tightly, trying to convey the words which she couldn't speak. Tony understood and so did Bucky, as they hugged her back for a moment.

"Thank you, both of you," she said thickly, trying really hard not to cry but a few tears escaped from her eyes. The three of them left the lab to get something to eat.

She now knew how to save her sister from dying.

* * *

Jessica walked beside Darcy and Pepper as the two women showed her around Stark Tower, and how the company was helping citizens of New York and other countries that had been hit by Thanos and the Black Order. Some included Japan and Wakanda which had custody of the Soul Stone.

"Thor took the Aether and it's in Asgard safely. The other three were taken by the Guardians of the Galaxy to be kept separate from each other. They're too dangerous to be all together," Darcy explained seriously, as she gave Jessica a smile.

Jessica smiled and nodded. She privately thought that was a good idea. They sat in the living room and Pepper asked F.R.I.D.A.Y and J.A.R.V.I.S to order pizza for everyone.

They all heard soft barking. Jessica turned around and saw a one-eyed golden Labrador running towards her excitedly. It knocked her over as it happily cuddled her.

"Well, hello to you too, buddy. Aren't you a sweet, beautiful dog?" Jessica said fondly to the dog who cuddled her. It swished his tail, as she saw he was wearing a purple bandana around his neck.

"Lucky, c'mere boy! Don't ruin the nice lady's dress...Jessica?" the voice asked startled. Jessica turned at the sound of the voice. She saw it was Clint standing in the hallway, holding a ball, and he had on a pair of dark tinted sunglasses.

"Clint, hey," Jessica said shyly, feeling her face turn dark red. Lucky continued to cuddle her but allowed her to get up as she looked at Clint.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but, uh, what's wrong? How did your appointment go?" Clint asked quietly, concern in his voice. He didn't notice a gleeful Darcy and Pepper looking on at the two adults. Natasha entered with Matt Murdock.

"It's not good news. The leukaemia's advanced to the third stage, and even though there is treatment...my health insurance doesn't cover it. Dr. Sharpe says that they can make me comfortable and give me drugs along with weed," Jessica said calmly, trying to keep her emotions together.

Clint looked at her quietly, knowing what she was saying. He felt sick all of a sudden.

She was going to die.

"How long?" he asked quietly. Jessica swallowed and looked at her hands for a moment, before sighing bitterly.

"Six months. I've got six months to arrange everything and make sure that my sister and grandmother will be alright. I don't want them or my cats to be alone," Jessica said thickly.

Clint swallowed back bile. She was still only a kid and in some ways reminded him of Wanda. She was Jessica's age and still only a kid, which was why she had decided to go counselling.

He had to give Jessica respect. She wasn't screaming or crying. She was keeping it together and being dignified about the fact that she was going to die in a painful manner.

"There anything I can do, Jess?" he asked quietly. He'd grown to like Jessica since meeting her at the bar.

"You can all help me make a bucket list, and help me plan my funeral and my will…I haven't done anything like that yet," she said determined, her eyes hard with determination.

Matt spoke up then, clearing his throat.

"Me and my law firm can help you with that, and my partner, Foggy can help with your finances," he offered. Jessica looked like she might faint. Clint realized with a start that she'd never met Matt Murdock, who was also Daredevil.

And Natasha's boyfriend. Clint didn't dare speak it out loud.

"Hey guys, Tony and Bucky are just testing out some equipment while we wait for pizza..." Emma trailed off when she saw Natasha, Matt and Clint.

Jessica looks over at her, as if waiting for her to explain exactly what was going on and that literally everyone here was someone who has saved her life before. Emma chuckles and walks over.

"Jessica, this is Matt Murdock and Natasha Romanoff. I'm sure you've heard of them before." Jessica smiles and nods.

"Plenty. Emma talks about you all the time…I just never thought I'd meet someone like you," she says softly. Matt smiles a bit at her voice while Natasha gives her a quiet smile.

"Well, we overheard what was happening. If there's anything you want us to do, please ask. Your sister is a good woman here and we're happy to help out anyone who is special to her." Emma rolls her eyes but feels a soft blush come over her cheeks.

She walks over to her sister. "What do you want us to do, Jessica?" she asks her quietly. "What do you want?"

She swallows and looks over at Clint. He was sitting across from her. Besides her sister, Clint was the only one she knew more of in the room, so in all honesty, what she said was mainly to her sister and to him. So, she looked at her journal and showed them what she had wrote down.

"Six months," she states with an even breath. "I have six months to do everything on this list, and after that…I can be fine with this." Emma looks over at the list, bringing it into her hands. "It's not a lot…but at this point it feels so…impossible."

Emma hands the list off to Clint, and he raises an eyebrow at this. "Jessica…this is stuff we could get done in one month." Her brow raises. "Go to New Orleans? We can have that done in a quinjet today if you wanted to."

"…really?"

"Of course," Natasha states, moving to look at the list. She smiles fondly. "Ah, you want to go to the circus. Clint knows about that well." Clint gives her a mock finger but chuckles.

"Yeah, I do. Used to work for them." He looks over at her. "Again, something I could do for you easily. Motorcycle one I can do too."

Jessica smiles softly at their words, almost feeling overwhelmed. Tony comes over and lowers his glasses in shock when he sees one of her wants. "You've never had sex?" he whispers in surprise. Jessica glances away, feeling as if he was shaming her. As soon as he saw that he shakes his head. "No, no, it's not a bad thing," he instantly says. "Not at all I'm just…surprised is all. You're just a beautiful young woman and…I'm gonna shut up," he states, taking a step back.

Jessica blushes a bit, rubbing the back of her neck. "I doubt any of you can do that…it's just something stupid on there," she mumbles. Emma chuckles. She knew her sister very well.

Clint looks over at her quietly. Honestly, he was personally shocked too. She was beautiful. He was surprised some guy hadn't taken her yet.

He swallows and shakes his own twisted thoughts from his mind, before handing her list back to her. "Here…we can help you with these, Jessica. All we need if you're ok." She smiles and then feels a tear come down her cheek, quickly wiping it away.

"Thank you," she whispers to them. "Thank you already for…everything."

Emma smiles at her sister. And deep down, she had hope that maybe this bucket list wasn't the last thing she would ever have to do.

* * *

Later on, in the day, when Emma had gone back into the lab to work with Bucky and some weapons some more, Jessica had decided to stay and eat some of the pizza that had arrived. As she did, she was looking at job offers.

There was no way, even with six months to live, she was going to just sit in her apartment with all her animals and be a hermit all day. Absolutely not. She was worth more than that, at least in her mind.

Clint, later, sat down next to her, taking a slice and giving it to the dog. "Don't tell the others, they don't like when I steal food for the dog," he mutters to her.

She chuckles. "I won't. I do the same for my cats back home." As she's looking down on the job list, one stands out to her. "Wait…this is for a news station." Clint looks over at her with a furrowed brow.

"You want a job now?"

She sighs. "Yeah…I just don't want to be sitting around on my ass all day waiting for death to take me…it just seems lazy and impractical." Clint shakes his head in disbelief. If he had found out he was dying, sure as shit he'd be laying on his ass all day.

She had a lot of moxy to go out and want to do this.

"And this job…it sounds interesting. A journalist there, and I love to write…but if I don't get it then…" She swallows and looks away, seeing Lucky place his head on her lap. She chuckles and rubs his head, sighing softly. Clint looks at her with a quiet expression and then nods to the computer.

"Go for it." She looks over at him with a furrowed brow. "I mean it. Go for the job. You deserve something like this."

* * *

 _My updates will be slow, as my grandfather died on Monday. But don't worry, the stories will be updated._

 _Review and enjoy :)_


	4. With Friends Like These

Summary: Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Clint/OC, Wanda/OC, Steve/Darcy, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Tony/Pepper, and Sam/Sharon. Rated M.

 **Special thanks** **To: crimson. blood. witch, BuckyBarnes07, abstract0118, and Longclaw 1 - 6 for reviewing and your kind words.**

A Tangled Web

Chapter 4

* * *

Jessica smiled at his words, and began filling in the forms that were on the website. She wrote her qualifications, as she had a GED and a degree in journalism. It was something she hadn't used as much, but she was still proud of it.

She hoped that she did get the job. She wanted to live even though she was going to die in six months.

"Hey, you'll be good as a journalist. And at WHIH, they don't discriminate against people, or show bias," Clint said reassuringly. She smiled then and leaned back. She stroked Lucky who laid down and started to rest.

"Thanks, Clint," Jessica said softly. Clint offered a faint smile and saw she was writing down her bucket list in her black notebook with a black pen.

"What you got so far, Jess?" Clint asked curiously. Jessica smiled and showed him the list that she'd written so far. He looked at it carefully.

 _1: 'Go to a wildlife sanctuary in South Africa.'_

 _2: 'Visit the circus and have fun.'_

 _3: 'See Phantom of the Opera at Broadway and enjoy myself.'_

 _4: 'Go on a road trip with Emma. Along with our friends who are Bucky, Tony, Pepper, Steve, Darcy, Natasha, Matt. Sam, Sharon, Wanda and everyone on the team, including Clint, and the animals. Want to visit Grandma.'_

 _5: 'See Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and visit the French Quarter.'_

 _6: 'Go to the beach.'_

 _'7: 'Visit Chicago, New Orleans, Great Britain, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, South Africa and Australia.'_

 _'8: Ride a horse.'_

That was what Jessica had written so far. He noticed that she had called them all her friends. He felt something warm up inside of him, as he realized that she considered him a friend with the others.

"You wanna go to all of those places? Including Scotland?" Clint asked surprised. Jessica nodded and bit her lip. She looked at him quietly, and sighed.

"My grandmother's been there and she says it's beautiful there. I've always wanted to go Hawaii and New Orleans. Apparently New Orleans has a lot of history, and I'd like to visit their bayou," Jessica said thoughtfully. Clint smiled at this.

She looked relaxed and trying to keep her mind off things.

* * *

Emma had narrowed the location of the seven uncommon spiders, which were all in tropical countries with hot weather, just as Peter as said. She found the image of the spider that had bitten Peter, before letting out a small smile.

It was a red spider with a dark blue pattern on its back. The other seven spiders were found in Hawaii, Malaysia, West of Africa, Venezuela, Bolivia and South America.

They were often found in Hawaii though. They preyed on flies. They died after biting someone but their bite was harmless. It only irritated the skin.

"I'm getting there. I just need to take blood and create a serum...but that means I'll have to test on animals, and I won't do that, so what else can I do?" Emma questioned thoughtfully, when she saw a dying yucca plant.

Bingo.

She decided to tell everyone, including Jessica. She wasn't keeping this secret, but she hadn't wanted to get up Jessica's hopes and give her false happiness.

"What the hell are you still doing here, Emma?!" a voice asked angrily. Emma looked up to see it was Calvin. He looked angry, his blues dark with madness.

"I've been working, Calvin. I've been helping Bucky regain his memories," she said calmly, but she felt slightly frightened of how he was presenting himself. She could smell the alcohol off his breath, and he stank of cigarettes, along with a strange perfume.

"Well come on, we're leaving," he said annoyed. She shook her head apologetically at him.

"I have to stay. I need to tell the team something, Calvin," she said firmly, determined not to be intimidated by him.

The next thing she felt was Calvin's left hand hitting her hard across the face. Emma stumbled onto the ground in pain, when he started punching he. She yelled in agony when he kicked her in the stomach.

* * *

Bucky had gone down to the lab to see how Emma was and to take her up to the living room so she could have something to eat. But as he went down there to see her, he heard angry voices, and heard something break.

"YOU FUCKING, USELESS BITCH! I'M NOT LETTING YOU LEAVE ME!" the man screamed enraged. Bucky raced into the room to see Calvin beating Emma on the floor.

He saw red, and ran towards the man, pushing him away from Emma as he turned to look at the young woman. She had a cut across the left side of her forehead, and her face was bruised badly.

"Emma, c'mon," Bucky said quietly. Emma let him help her up as he called security. Bucky glared at the man as the team hurried down to the lab to see Calvin being escorted out of the tower.

"Emma...did Calvin do this to you?" Jessica asked horrified. Emma said nothing to the question but it was obvious that Calvin had attacked her. After a moment, she finally nodded and wiped her eyes, as she was taken to the med bay to get her cuts stitched up.

Bucky stayed by her side and sat with her. Helen gave her an injection of anaesthetic so she wouldn't be in pain, and she let her tend to her cuts.

"I'm going to fire that asshole. What the hell made him beat you up, Em?" Tony asked concerned. Two police officers arrived to take everyone's statements.

"He wanted to go home, but I wanted to stay and tell you all something, and he got pissed off. He started hitting and punching me, and then he smashed me over the head with one of the vases in the lab," Emma said shaken, as Brett Mahoney took her statement.

He then looked at Bucky.

"Was Mr. Sharpe attacking Emma when you came to check on her, Mr. Barnes?" Brett asked seriously. Bucky nodded.

"Yeah, and he was kicking her when I pushed him away from her. He was really pissed off," Bucky said grimly, thinking of Emma. He looked at her quietly, seeing how she curled into herself.

He felt horrible for what she had gone through. No one, especially Emma of all people, should have gone through what she did. And he knew that if he saw that fucker again he'd tear the life off him.

Jessica comes over to her sister. "Emma, please…this has been going on far too long," she whispers pleadingly to her.

Emma looks over at her sister and then sighs. "Everything will work out…eventually." She stands slowly. "I'll be back later," she mumbles, before leaving the room. The team looks at themselves quietly, worried for her own health.

Jessica sighs. "Don't worry…she usually goes to the lab to calm herself down." She swallows and looks away. "I just hope she feels better…and that, that asshole gets what's coming to him."

* * *

The next day, Jessica had realized that her sister had stayed in the lab overnight, but she had gone home to feed the cats and get ready for her interview. As she did, buttoning up her shirt and tightening the small skirt on her body, her phone chimed.

Her brow furrows as she looks over to read the text. Instantly, her lips quirk up in a smile. Everyone was sending her good luck texts, telling her she was going to kill the interview and get the job. She was happy that so many of the people seemed to confident in her. She usually wasn't even confident in herself.

But if others could be…she would be okay with that.

She placed her phone down once more and ran a brush through her hair, grabbed some hairspray, and sprayed a bit on the top. Once her hair was flat and looking decent, her phone rang again. This time she reached over and unlocked it, wanting to see who it was.

As she read the text, she noticed it was from Clint. When she opened it, she laughed when she saw a picture of Lucky, licking the screen.

 _'Even he's rooting for ya, kid,'_ the text read. _'I know you'll do good. Talk to all of us afterwards.'  
_  
Jessica smiles and places her phone down. She knew Clint was probably being hit pretty hard, especially after what had happened with his wife. Seeing him happy and talking to her like this made her feel like she was doing something good, and not just wasting her time like some stupid dying person.

Even if she was going to leave this world, there was always a chance of her living first. And she was going to live. One way or another.

Jessica lets out a happy sigh and leaves the apartment, closing the door behind her. The lock turned as she left, effectively keeping her animals safe as she shuffled down the stairs to the streets. Within seconds, a cab was at her feet, and ready to take her to the studio.

As she arrived there, instantly she felt small. She hadn't been a studio like this in years, so just walking in felt like a blast from the past. When she stepped through those double doors, instantly she's met by a person who takes her jacket.

"You're Jessica Webster?" the person asks her. She nods. "Right this way." The worker leads her through the halls to where she had to go. As she walked, Jessica couldn't help but glance around at the many rooms around her. The recording studio, the buttons that controlled the cameras, the main office rooms, even the little gift store that sat at the back.

Each and every little thing played a part in it. It was amazing.

The worker led her into a room and closed the door. Jessica turned to face the woman who was sitting there, and was greeted with a kind smile. Christine Everhart.

"Nice to finally meet you, Jessica."

* * *

When Bucky came back to the lab after the incident from the day before, he was surprised to find that Emma was still working hard on something in the lab. As he walked in, she was concentrated over something on the table, but it was clear that she hadn't gotten any sleep. "Emma?" He calls out quietly.

Her head snaps up at the voice. He could see the bruises from her face starting to turn colors, but just the image of them pissed him off. Calvin deserved to rot in a cell for what he had done to her.

"Bucky, sorry, hey," she states, running a hand through her messy hair. "I guess I was so…concentrated that I didn't even realize we had a session today." Bucky walks over to her, and glances down at what she had been working on. His brow raises.

"Is that a sniper rifle?" he asks her quietly. She chuckles and rubs the back of her neck, taking a step back.

"When I get nervous, I do stuff with my hands. Last night, when the thing happened, I decided to come back in here and upgrade the sniper rifle you use in battle. It's able to see clearer now, and the firing rate is much quicker. You might be able to make more kills with this."

Bucky shakes his head and looks over at her. "Not that I'm not thankful for this-I am-but you shouldn't have spent all night on this, Emma. You should have gone home."

She looks at him quietly, and then, as if a glass broke, a few tears started to stream down her face, until she was silently crying. Bucky places the gun down and walks over to her, trying to tilt her chin up so he could see her. The bruises looked extremely painful.

"I wanted to, but Calvin has a key to my apartment," she says quietly. "And Jessica is of no use to him. He would only hurt her if I was there, and it was too late to change the locks and…" She lets out a shaky breath and glances at the ground. "I wish I could leave him…but it's not that simple, Bucky. It was never that simple."

Bucky looks at her quietly, biting his lip. And then, quietly, he places his hand on hers. "Stay with us."

Her brow raises. "What?"

"You and your sister mean way too much to us to see you get hurt so easily…please, stay here with us. I'm even alright with one of you staying with me. I just don't want to see you or Jessica get hurt by that jackoff again…I had no idea this was happening to you or to her. You need somewhere safe. This place is safe."

"That's very sweet of you, Bucky, but I can't impose on all of you like this, especially you and Tony," Emma said quietly, but she would like to stay. And she knew Jessica would as well. Bucky shook his head as he heard the door open. Oh God.

It was Tony again.

"Emma Davina Webster, you are no way in hell going to impose on me, and neither is Jessica. We already said that yesterday when this happened," Tony said firmly. Emma nodded and wiped her eyes as she cleaned up her face.

"You're good friends, both of you. Right, let's go over there now before he wakes up from his hangover and goes in a rage," she said bravely, trying to keep calm. She sent a text to Jessica, letting her know that they were moving into Stark Tower.

* * *

They took Emma's car, and Tony stayed at the tower. The pair drove down to the house where Emma lived with Jessica, and saw that the front door had been kicked open.

Bucky cautiously got out of the car and Emma got out as well. She hurried inside to see Patch, Custard, Tom, Jack, Bonnie, Clyde, Reg, and Paul all hiding under the split in half dark cherry wood table. Something had happened. Something bad.

Papers were strewn over the cream carpet. Bucky followed after Emma. He saw that mirrors had been smashed, and the piano in the corner of the living room looked rumpled.

It wasn't the only thing that had been disturbed. Bookcases had books thrown from the shelves, photo frames that had photos inside them were flung on the floor, and Bucky saw the bedrooms all had the doors kicked open.

"Jinx, Starling where are you two?" Emma called out anxiously. Bucky heard a faint meowing from Emma's room. They both followed the noise, only to see a horrific sight.

Jinx, Emma's black cat was lying helplessly on the floor, blood streaming from its side. Starling looked like he'd been run over...or thrown about.

Red paint was splashed on the walls. Bucky quickly called Steve, Tony and the others and the police. Emma picked up the two injured cats, holding them close to her chest as they checked the other rooms.

Jessica's bedroom looked trashed just like Emma's. The light lilac walls were splashed with red paint, and the bookcases had books yanked off the shelves, just like Emma's did.

The next room was the study, and it looked like a hurricane had trashed the place. Books were all on the floor, and the computer looked like it had been on. Emma looked in tears.

The living room had writing on the wall. It pissed Bucky off at seeing the words written on the space before him.

'THESE TWO SISTERS ARE SYMPATHETIC TO FREAKS LIKE MUTANTS, INHUMANS, AND THAT FREAK SHOW OF AVENGERS!'

Bucky saw the familiar symbol of the Watchdogs, an armed, radical group who wanted to wipe out Inhumans, Mutants, Gifteds and the Avengers. They had come here.

They'd been responsible for bombing safe haven ATCU facilities for people who had ended up triggering their Inhuman powers in some way. The group was labelled as a terrorist group, with Christine Everhart suggesting that Senator Ellen Nadeer along with other highly powerful politicians and senators supported the group.

"Let's get your cats to the Tower and get checked over…longer we stay here, more bad things we're going to see," Bucky said quietly. Emma nodded as the police arrived and asked some questions, before condoning the house off.

Emma knew Calvin had been behind this. He had to have had some sort of role. He was like a spoiled child, who threw a tantrum when he couldn't have his own way.

As usual…with everything else in their relationship.

* * *

Jessica thought the interview had gone well. Despite her famous coldness to everyone, Christine was actually nice and showed her around the building. She even introduced her to Will Adams, the political news reporter for WHIH News.

"We're not as big as we were, especially since four of our reporters and writers have quit after getting death threats from far-right wing groups due to our support to the Avengers, but we're still going strong," Christine explained grimly with a grim smile as they all had a lunch break.

KFC and McDonald's paper bags were on the table with all kinds of food. The two took a seat at one of the tables.

"I'm sorry, do you know who's sending the hate mail?" Jessica asked concerned. She was biting into a hot and spicy wing, the chicken juicy in her mouth. Having food, something, was heavenly. She hadn't had anything that morning due to being in a rush.

"The Watchdogs. They're bad news and they're behind the bombings of the ATCU safe havens for Inhumans. Christine thinks that Senator Ellen Nadeer and Anton Ivanov are behind it, along with a scientist who claims that mutants, enhanced and gifted are evil and will wipe us out," he said disdainfully.

Jessica felt disturbed at hearing this. As she ate, one of the assistants, Renee, came in with a package.

"Christine, this came for you," she announced. Christine took it from her, as she began to cautiously open it. Her face paled as the packaging was removed. One of the women screamed in horror.

There was an arm in the box. An arm that had been ripped at the elbow. Beneath the bloody carcass of the arm was a dirty note, torn and covered in dried fluids.

 _'So, Miss Everhart you and your news team think you can figure out who I am? Well then, let the games begin._

 _You, and your new journalist Jessica Webster along with the Avengers and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen are to figure out a riddle that I've left for you. You'll know that there's another victim somewhere, but somewhere only we know._

 _Have fun trying to save your little family.'_

Christine let out a quiet sigh and looks over at Jessica. "I'm sorry about this. This has almost become normal for us at this point," she admits quietly. "I know you might be almost used to something like this, but it's still not acceptable."

Jessica shakes her head. "My sister works in the Avengers tower, I should be used to stuff like this at this point." At that moment, her phone started to ring. She looks apologetically at Christine and moves into the other room, answering. "Hello?"

"Jessica? It's Clint." Her brow raises. She had forgotten that he had her number, but him calling her was the last thing she thought he would do.

"Clint, what's up?" she asks curiously.

She hears him sigh on the other end. "Jessica, when you were in your apartment earlier this morning, did you see anything wrong when you left?" Her brow furrows, wondering where on earth this could go to.

"No…why?" Her voice started to grow a bit worried, but she still kept her tone even.

"Emma and Bucky stopped by the apartment today to find it destroyed. Two of the cats were injured. They're at the vets at the Tower now and we think they're gonna be alright, but we don't know for sure." Jessica brings a hand to her mouth, shocked at the news. Petrified.

How…how could someone hurt the cats of all things? The apartment sure, she didn't give a shit about half of her materials. They were all replaceable. But her cats…none of them were. And the fact that someone had willingly hurt her animals…pissed her off to some other level.

"Do you know who did it?" she asks, her voice rising in anger.

"Bucky told me he saw the label of The Watchdogs." _'Fucking Watchdogs,'_ Jessica thinks, shaking her head. They were even fucking up her life already. "But it's alright. We took the cats, they're at the tower, they're safe. You and Emma are moving in here. You guys mean too much to the company for this shit to happen."

Jessica had to admit a little bit of her heart warmed up at his comment. She didn't think anyone would really want her around with her sickness, but what he had said had made her happier than she thought she would have been.

"Okay," she says softly. "Should I come to the tower? See what is going on?"

"Yes. As soon as possible would work." She nods.

"Alright…I'll be there soon." Clint hangs up after that, and Jessica sighs.

Taking a moment, she runs her fingers through her hair, reminding herself to take a deep breath and not freak out. Her family was safe, she was safe, her cats were safe, and everything was going to be fine. Everything was going to work out.

Or at least that's what she had to keep telling herself.

She moves back where Christine was, where she had sent the disgusting note away. Jessica places a hand on her shoulder and the woman turns to her. "My apartment was raided by the same people, and they hurt my cats. They're fine, I think," she replies to Christine's worried look. "But I should head to where they are now, just to make sure."

Christine nods. "Don't worry, go to them. You've got the job, come here next Monday. We'll get you started." Jessica smiles at her gratefully and then leaves, grabbing her bag.

* * *

When she arrived at the tower, the first thing Jessica saw was Emma running towards her, embracing her younger sister tightly. Jessica sighs and throws her arms around her sister as well, keeping her close. When she pulls away, Emma wipes the tears from her eyes.

"Thank God you had your interview today," Emma whispers. "I think they would have hurt you too if you had been there…"

Jessica shakes her head. "Don't think about it. I'm here, and I'm alive." The two sisters walk hand in hand to the others. The next person she sees it Bucky and Clint, the two talking closely about something. When the men saw the two women, they turn to them.

"How are they?" Jessica asks the two as Emma walks over to Bucky. "Bad?"

"They were hurt pretty badly," Bucky says to her quietly. "But we think we got them in just in time."

Jessica swallows and nods, looking over at Clint. He looks at her sadly. "I'm sorry about this, Jessica. You and your family shouldn't have been dragged into this."

She shakes her head, keeping her emotions in check. "No, it's alright. I sort of signed up for this when Emma decided to work for you guys." Emma blushes and rubs the back of her neck, turning away. "I just want to see the cats now. I'm just…scared for them."

At that moment, another woman comes out. She had long brown hair and kind eyes. Jessica recognized her instantly. Scarlet Witch. Wanda. She hadn't met her yet.

"You're Jessica, right?" She nods. "I'm Wanda Maximoff. It's great to meet you. My boyfriend is working on your pets right now," she says to them calmly. "He says they should be alright and healed within a few weeks…would you like to meet him and see your cats?"

* * *

 _Enjoy and review :)_


	5. You Got A Friend In Me

**Summary:** Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Clint/OC, Wanda/OC, Steve/Darcy, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Tony/Pepper, and Sam/Sharon. Rated M.

 **AN: I apologise for the delay, I was really busy with the holidays and family drama. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas :)**

A Tangled Web

Chapter 5

* * *

"Yes please, we'd like to see that they're alright, if that's ok?" Emma asked quietly. Wanda nodded and showed them into the tower. They got off on the floor, where the vet was with their pets.

The room had a welcoming vibe to it. There were photos on the walls of recovering animals, animals who had been saved and adopted from abusive homes, and there were four donation boxes for specific animal charities.

The man in front of them smiled at seeing Wanda. Jessica saw that he had dark brown hair. It just barely touched his neck, and he was in black scrubs.

He had a kind smile as he walked over to them.

"I'm Dr. Adam Blumenfeld. Now, Jinx is going to have surgery as she has some severe injuries, but she'll be fine. Starling will need to have his pelvis tended to, as his back legs and pelvis are broken. We'll place metal pins in them, and place a bandage wrap around Jinx's back so they'll both recover. Bonnie has a cut on her left ear, while the other cats are fine," Adam said reassuringly. It caused everyone to sigh in relief, especially Emma and Jessica.

"Thank you, Adam. We're really grateful," Emma said sincerely. She felt exhausted from the long, emotional and rather frightening day. Adam smiled at them, his piercing blue eyes kind.

"Anytime, and you're welcome...Sully, come here, boy!" Adam called our gently but firmly. They saw a ginger cat quickly move away from the window. He allowed Adam to pick him up and place him on a large car bed.

"How he manages to still walk, even after falling out of a ten-story high window, I have no idea," Wanda said in disbelief. She gave him some dreamies and he ate them happily.

Jessica privately agree. She spent some time with the cats as did Emma, before they let them rest for the night. Starling was gently placed on an operating table, and Clint saw the cat's legs were broken and at an awkward angle.

"Now behave, Starling. I'll visit you in the morning," Jessica said lovingly. She stroked his ears and he purred weakly, before being knocked out with a mask that put him to sleep.

Bucky helped Emma unpack her belongings. Her books were all placed in bookshelves along with her laptop. Her Stark iPad and her phone were all on the desk with a computer chair that could swivel around on the floor.

"I'm sorry that we got you and Jessica dragged into this, Emma. You've got enough problems, and now you have to deal with this," Bucky suddenly apologized quietly. Emma gave him a smile and squeezed his hand tightly, before she took in a deep breath.

"It's alright…but I'm going to tell the others and Jessica what I'm up to, Bucky. It's only fair and the right thing to do. Tony knows but doesn't know that I've located where all the spiders are found. They can be found in Hawaii, Madagascar, Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba along with other tropical countries. And I need to get blood from these seven uncommon spiders to create a serum that will cure Jess. I'm going to Hawaii. At least that's a start," she said fiercely, determination in her voice. Bucky nodded, before he took her hand.

"I'll go with you," he said simply. Emma was shocked by his answer as they left the room. The two went to tell the others, who were all in the living room with pizza.

"I have something to tell all of you, and it's really important," Emma said seriously, causing everyone to look up in concern. They listened expectantly.

"What's up, Emma?" Jessica asked concerned. Emma gave her a reassuring smile, before she began to tell the team everything she'd been doing.

"After Dr. Sharpe refused to treat Jess, I started reading on everything our parents had researched about spiders. Our parents had discovered that seven species of uncommon widow and radioactive spiders had blood in their cells that could cure Jess of her cancer," Emma explained quietly, trying to stay calm and ready herself for the backlash.

"Did you find out where you can find them? When I researched them, it said the Radioactive Spider species was found in tropical countries," Peter asked curiously. He, Gwen and Mary-Jane were happy that Emma had discovered a cure for her sister.

"They're found in the forests of Hawaii, maybe all of them, and their bite isn't poisonous, but it does irritate the skin. But...I need blood samples from them to make the serum and it's technically breaking the law of the Sokovian Accords," Emma said grimly.

Everyone fell silent at this, but Steve had an idea.

"You and Bucky can go to Hawaii and say that you're on holiday and getting Bucky used to the modern world. That way no one will figure out you're both actually there to look for spiders," Steve said thoughtfully. Everyone nodded.

Natasha looked at everyone sternly. They were not going to inform Ross or Miriam Sharpe what Emma was doing.

"This doesn't leave the room."

* * *

Jessica wasn't sure if she should be happy at the fact that Emma along with the rest of the team were risking their jobs to save her. Or should she be worried for them?

She might not die, but had been told by Peter that she might end up getting abilities. In all honesty, she was fine with that. It was a price to pay in order to stay alive and not get cancer.

"How you holding up?" Clint asked quietly. Jessica smiled slightly as she saw him sit down next to her. Lucky was fast asleep with the cats all burrowed into his side along with Liho, Natasha's black cat that had a red collar.

Adam and Wanda had phoned and were arriving to see Starling and Jinx settle. Starling had his back legs wrapped in casts, and Jinx looked tired but perky.

"I'm ok, just...shocked that Dad and mom's research paid off. They've been studying these seven species of spiders for years," Jessica said astonished, and swallowed. "Dad just took off, but he'd be so proud of Emma for continuing his research," she said proudly, and wiped her eyes.

Although the courts had stated that Jeffrey Webster was dead, even though they'd never found his body after three years he had gone missing from the hospital where he'd worked.

Jessica missed him, their mom and gran.

Clint looks at her quietly. "He ran?" he asks. She shakes her head.

"Not willingly. My sister and I think that something or someone might have found out what he was trying to do and hunted him down…the police never found his body, but now they kinda just presumed him dead." She sighs and runs a hand through her hair. "We hoped he would still be alive but…he's gone. I don't think he would ever come back." Clint looks over at her, seeing how quiet she had become now.

He had a feeling that talking about her dad was a sensitive topic.

"Well, I bet my childhood horror story beats yours," he says, sort of jokingly to make her smile. And it succeeds, submitting a chuckle out of her body. Jessica turns to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you say that?" she chuckles. He shrugs his shoulders, glancing down at the ground.

"Just had a shitty childhood," he says quietly, looking over at her. She raises her brow.

"Like how?" she asks softly.

Clint sighs. "It's a long story."

"We have time."

"I grew up in a small town in Waverley, Iowa. My dad was called Harold and he was an abusive asshole who owned a butcher shop. When he was drunk, it was worse, and he'd always pick on me and my older brother, Barney after he'd beaten our mom," Clint said quietly, his eyes distant. He swallowed slightly.

Jessica looked at him quietly, getting the sense that his dad had been terrible to him and his brother.

"He liked using a belt on me and Barney. Barney would always try to stop him from hurting me. I remember how one night, he came home drunk and Barney hid me in the wardrobe to keep me safe, when we heard him beating our mom. She screamed at Barney to stay upstairs but he didn't do as she said. He got beaten up by our old man, and then I was trying to stop him from punching Barney again, and he went at me," Clint said quietly, his face distant as he was lost in the haunting memory.

Jessica listened to his story in silence. Her heart broke for the pain that Clint had gone through. She gently took his hand, holding it tightly. He surprisingly held it back, looking at the ground.

"I'm so sorry, Clint," she said quietly. Clint gave her a nod and bit into some apple pie, as did Jessica. She suddenly found herself remembering the severed arm.

"Someone sent a box to Christine after she interviewed me…and inside was a... severed arm…it looked fresh," she said uneasily. Clint felt his stomach roll at hearing this.

"Did you call the cops?" Clint asked concerned. Jessica nodded just as her phone began to ring. She answered it quickly, thinking it was Christine or Will.

"Hello?" she asked politely. No one answered for a minute, before a voice spoke up.

"Hey Billy, it flows," the voice cackled with a sinister laugh. It made Jessica shudder in response.

"Who the hell is this?" she asked angrily, refusing to be intimidated. Clint looked on worriedly, and the voice laughed.

"Oh little Jess, you really are trying to ignore the warning signs, aren't you? I'm back, and that arm you found is the beginning. And you along with Hawkeye better figure out the next clue...because the circus is coming to town," he said malevolently, causing Jessica to stare at the phone in horror.

Despite her best attempts, she remembered what this was about.

* * *

 _August the 1st, 2003_

 _Jessica was happily playing at the family boat house that the Webster family owned and would use as a holiday home. She and Emma were playing with their neighbours. There were five boys and four girls who were on holiday. They were all having fun, but in that moment, Patricia's kite blew away._

 _"Patricia, come on sweetie. We're going home," Abigail O'Malley called out cheerfully. She said goodbye to the adults, and gathered Penelope, Nathan and Owen._

 _Jessica looked around along with Emma and Tony, who had come to visit. They called out for Patricia, when Jessica thought she saw a clown with a red balloon in his right hand, smiling at her._

 _She backed away in fright but when she looked up, he was gone. The adult's voices became worried._

 _No one saw Patricia again._

* * *

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" she asked uneasily, trying to keep on the line so Tony could trace the number. The voice laughed lightly.

"Children are so innocent, aren't they? I mean, Scott Lang has a beautiful little girl called Cassie, and I know that you all care about children, don't you? It would be a shame if something happened to them during Circus Week?" the man asked slyly.

"What do you want?" Clint asked coldly. He took the phone from her, placing the call on speaker, and gave Jessica's hand a tight squeeze. He was proud of her for keeping a levelled head and not freaking out.

"You'll find out in two days, tick tock. Time's going up against all you all, and the News Team!" he said smugly. The phone went dead.

"I've got a location! An abandoned theme park!" Tony shouted quickly. Instantly, everyone got ready to leave.

* * *

Clint felt bad, but he refused at first to let Jessica come with them. But Tony and Steve surprisingly supported her and told Clint that she had a right to be here along with Emma. They were a part of this as much as the others. So, he had agreed, as long as she and her sister stayed behind them.

The abandoned theme park looked intimidating as it hadn't been used in years. The rides had rusted from the rain, but as they looked forward, the lights switched on suddenly. All of them spotted a man on the stage in front of a ride, and dressed in a purple suit.

What the hell? Was he acting like the Joker or something?

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! We invite you to take part in our latest-and deadliest-attraction!" the man said manically. The lights shone on a group of terrified children with burlap sacks over their heads in a cart on the ride. A woman was tied up in the ring of fire, which blasted out flames.

The woman cried out in fright as the team looked on in horror. Jason, the camera man from the news team, looked horrified.

"The rules are simple, Avengers. You all have a puzzle, and you have time. Only you can stop it!" He said with a crazed smile. The Home Secretary Thaddeus Ross and Miriam Sharpe arrived with a SWAT team.

"Stand back, Avengers!" he shouted coldly, and gestured for the SWAT team to move on ahead.

"And now...let the games begin! Hahaha!" the man laughed cruelly, with a sinister smile.

And they all saw the word START being pressed.

At that instant, it seemed like a million horrible things all happened at once. A ring of fire started to surround the woman that was tied up. All of the heroes tried to get at her, but the SWAT team all held them back, keeping them from doing anything.

And in an instant, she was swallowed by the fire, screaming in fits of pain and torture. And if they didn't break through the team, the kids would be next.

"Let us through!" Clint yells as the rest try to push. Almost instantly, the evil fucker who pressed started began to laugh, manically, and jumped away as the fire started to travel towards the children. All of them began to scream.

Peter, thinking quick, used his webbing and sprayed it towards where the kids were, before heading above the team and landing, getting the kids away from the fire as quickly as he could. The team, dumbfounded, were standing there long enough for the rest of the Avengers to break through and get the kids to safety, before the fire reached the area.

Jessica made sure they all stayed behind the rest, looking around them. Peter quickly swung down as the fire engulfed where the children had been, and glared at the SWAT team.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" he snaps. The team looked at him surprised. That was the first time they had ever seen him use those words. It was surprising. The rest don't say anything. Clint shakes his head and glances at Bucky.

"Let's find that clown. The rest of you, keep the kids safe." Emma steps forward.

"I'm going too."

"So am I," Jessica states.

Clint looks at her with an exasperated expression. "Jessica, you're sick. Your time is limited as it is. This would be stupid to expose your life like this."

"I'm not just going to sit back and let someone get hurt again. I'm going with you two-we both are-whether you like it or not." Emma crosses her arms across her chest, happy her sister stood up for herself. Bucky and Clint exchange a glance before sighing.

"Fine," Bucky states. Instantly, the rest of them head off, the second half of the team staying behind. The four go through the amusement park, seeing it completely covered in old webs and rusted to the bone.

But everything felt…off.

The four head to see a carousel, moving very slowly, like something was purposefully making it move like that. Bucky cautiously moved forward while Clint had his bow and arrow drawn. Emma and Jessica stayed behind, trying to see from another angle where on earth this clown could possibly be.

As Jessica turned a corner, all she saw a was a pair of bloody sneaker resting on the platform of the old amusement park ride. Her brow furrows as she steps onto the ride, trying to see what they were. It was a pair of small shoes, almost like a children's pair, and they were purple.

And just covered in blood, to a point that it was terrifying. And that's when she knew.

These were Patricia's. The girl that had gone missing. When she was a child.

"You sick fuck!" she snaps, turning away from them. Clint instantly comes running around the corner, along with the other two to find Jessica leaning against the wall, looking down at the shoes in anger and sadness, combined into one horrible emotion.

Clint comes over to her. "What's wrong? What's going on?" he asks her quietly.

Jessica shakes her head, looking down at the ground sadly. Emma comes over and takes the shoes, looking at them grimly, before seeing there was a note attached to the bottom of the sole of the shoe.

 _'It's been years. But little Patricia is still little for me!'  
_  
Emma felt her stomach whirl in disgust. "That…that man," she whispers to Jessica. Her sister nods.

"They're working together," she says, shaking. "They're together…"

Bucky and Clint exchange a glance. "What is it?" Bucky finally asks, looking at the two of them.

Emma sighs. "When we were kids, a little girl we used to play with went missing, and these…these were the shoes she was wearing. And now she's…" At that moment, they suddenly heard a loud shout, and the rest of them went running, taking the shoes and note with them.

What they found made them stop in their tracks. Natasha and Matt were looking down at a child's body, completely decomposed and covered in maggots and flies. It was dead. It was Patricia.

It was her.

Jessica instantly turned away and threw up, the smell overwhelming within her. Emma turns to the side, containing her bile but just by barely. She didn't want to see the dead carcass of the friend she used to play with all the time.

And now she just…wasn't there anymore. She was really gone.

"Fuck," she whispers, shaking. Clint comes over to Jessica and places a hand on her back, pulling her away from the scene. Bucky moves to Emma. "She's…she's really gone."

Bucky swallows grimly. This was something he really wasn't expecting to see today.

* * *

 _Things are getting creepy. I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, and Happy New Year everyone :)_


	6. The Circus

Summary: Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Clint/OC, Wanda/OC, Steve/Darcy, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Tony/Pepper, and Sam/Sharon. Rated M.

A Tangled Web

Chapter 6

* * *

He gently wrapped an arm around her and led her away as the coroner arrived and examined the body. He knew that the girl had been dead for a while but...something was off.

"I need to call Abigail O'Malley. She needs to hear it from family…oh god," Emma gasped horrified, feeling her eyes burn with tears. They saw two men gently lift up the girl's body.

Maggots slid off it and onto the ground. Bucky heard someone throw up, and guessed it was one of the SWAT team guys who had.

"I'll come with you, you shouldn't go alone," Bucky said quietly. Emma nodded gratefully and wiped her eyes as she went to speak to Tony. Clint checked on Jessica, who was very quiet.

She was staring at the purple converse trainers as they were gently placed in an evidence bag. A single tear slid down her left cheek as she watched them leave.

This had not been a good day.

* * *

Clint checked on Natasha and Matt quietly. They were driving to the O'Malley's home in the Upper East Side. The family lived in a townhouse but according to Emma and Jessica, they were good people who had been described as a loving, kind family.

"I went to school with Penny, Patricia's sister. We still keep in touch, and she never got over what happened to Trish...we all blamed ourselves for not keeping an eye on her, but Trish said she was going to fly her kite and…" Jessica whispered quietly, her eyes distant. Clint looked at her silently.

She looked tired but had freshened up. She was in a pair of black skinny jeans, black flat boots and a smart black shirt, and was looking at a photo in her hands.

Clint looked at it as well and felt his heart sink. It was of four little girls aged seven years old, and they were all beaming in the photo and dressed for ballet classes.

Two blondes and two brunettes. All of them looked so happy and oblivious to the world around them.

"That's Emma and Penny on the right, and on the left, is me and Patricia. We went to ballet classes together every Friday afternoon and our parents would let us walk to the local McDonald's, because they could just find us there. Patricia wanted to be a writer of romance/suspense novels with me. Penny and Emma wanted to be doctors," she said with a bitter laugh.

She looked at him with a remorseful expression.

"If I had figured out that puzzle quicker, Kristen would be alive and not lying in the morgue. Patricia was one of my best friends. She loved baseball, loved going for walks and loved writing. She loved reading books, and she always loved animals, and now she's just…gone," she said sadly, and wiped her eyes.

"You were a kid, Jess. This isn't your fault. Her family doesn't blame you or Emma. It's the guy's fault who murdered Patricia and Kristen. But you can help me catch this fucker," Clint said firmly.

Clint saw her calm down. She wiped her eyes with a tissue, before sitting up straight and nodded.

"Ok, what do we do? And what do you want me to do?" she asked quietly, calming down.

"Research if any circuses came to New York in the month Patricia went missing and see if we've got similar cases. We might be dealing with a serial offender, and I hope to God it's not another John Wayne Gacy, but this time is targeting kids who are mutants, Inhumans or gifted," he said grimly, his storm grey eyes haunted.

Jessica looked at him and held his hand.

"Bad memories?" she asked quietly. Clint nodded and squeezed her hand tightly, taking in a deep breath.

"After we were placed in our fourth foster home, the couple weren't using the money sent for us. They used it on themselves and their kids. Barney and I ran away to join Carson's Circus. We were there for four years and that's how I got the name 'the Amazing Hawkeye.' I found out that someone was stealing from the circus and I confronted them. I got beaten up and left for the dead. My brother, Barney, had by then joined the FBI, and I became a killer paid by the highest bidder," he said quietly.

Jessica looked at him with no judgment, which surprised him a lot. Laura had been cold to him after he had told her and ignored him when they had been dating for a time.

"You're still my friend, Clint. You'll always be my friend, and I'm not scared of you or any of the Avengers," she said firmly. Clint shook his head at her.

"I've got blood on my hands, Jessica."

She looks at him quietly. "I don't care about that, Clint. We've all had to do stuff for some people that we aren't necessarily proud of. It's just what we've had to do. It doesn't make you any less of a good person."

Clint looks at her silently, taking in her words. Before either could say anything, the door opens and the two looked to see Emma. She was quiet.

"We need to tell Abigail," she says to her quietly. Jessica swallows and nods, following her. It seemed like hours had passed but it had only been a small amount of time.

"Then let's go," she says softly.

Clint stands, deciding maybe it would be best to go with them. Whoever this killer was, it was out for blood. And it may have been against these sisters anyway.

* * *

When they reached the woman's house, Jessica couple feel the fear shaking within her. She didn't want to tell this woman about her dead daughter. Not at all. No one should have to have lost a child in their lifetime. But here they were…with news none of them ever wanted.

Emma places a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Don't worry, Jessica. I'll be right here with you. We're going to be okay." Jessica swallows and nods, looking ahead as they walked towards the house. Emma knocks on the door, three times.

Here they go.

The door opened and revealed a middle-aged redhead with kind eyes and a lovely smile. They looked at Abigail, who smiled at them all but seemed to sense something was wrong.

"Emma and Jessica, it's so good to see you…but what's going on? Has something happened?" she asked concerned. Jessica watched as realization dawned on her pale face.

"I'm so sorry, Abigail...we found Trish," Emma said quietly, compassion in her voice. Abigail gasped in horror, before ushering them inside the living room.

"She's gone...Patricia's gone, isn't she? What happened to my baby, Emma and Jess?" she asked distraught. Owen, Penelope and Nathan moved to comfort her.

Clint decided to speak. He could see Emma and Jessica struggle to tell their family friends, that their daughter and sister had been brutally murdered and dumped at an abandoned amusement park. Anyone would.

"Mrs. O'Malley, we found your daughter's body at an abandoned amusement park, after a suspect phoned Jessica and taunted her about the day your daughter disappeared. We believe she was killed two days after she disappeared," Clint said gently, seeing Abigail sob quietly.

"Was it because she was a mutant? Was that why my baby girl was killed, because she had powers?" Abigail asked shakily. Clint swallowed slightly and gave her a sad smile.

"We don't know, but we are investigating every possibility. Did you see anyone acting strange that day Patricia went missing?" Clint asked gently. Abigail looked deep in thought.

"Elizabeth and I took Owen, Nathan, Penelope, Emma and Jessica to the park to the fair. The children hated clowns, so we avoided them, but I thought a clown was following us. Matthew, my husband, went to find him but couldn't find him. We went back to the house to have a barbecue round Jeffrey and Elizabeth's house. The children were playing in the garden where we could see them," Abigail said thickly. Clint could tell she was trying to keep calm.

"Did you see anything strange?" he asked urgently. Abigail frowned, as her face paled in horror.

"Patricia wanted to go play out in the street, but I wouldn't let her. So, she, Emma, Jessica and Penelope played with a kite and it was getting late, so I called out to her and... that was when Jess saw the clown. He was holding a red balloon and it was the same one my Tricia had. He killed my baby, he killed my daughter," Abigail said brokenly, tears swimming down her face.

Emma and Jessica hugged her comfortingly, as the woman began grieving for her youngest child.

* * *

Bucky had arranged for the team to stay at a local hotel so they could keep an eye out for the killer if he showed up again. True to their word, Jessica, Christine, Will and Aaron had dug into information on children disappearing during circus week.

Ten children had gone missing, and they shared two things in common with Patricia. They'd all been to a circus, and gotten a balloon. All were mutants.

Emma and Jessica had been aware of it, but weren't disturbed by Patricia's powers. Emma was in the bathroom having a shower, while Bucky read up on the files.

He could still hear Kristen's screams as she'd been burned alive, the crazed look on the man's face. He treated the murder like some sort of twisted game to be played.

Sick bastard.

Before he could curse that fuck for everything he had done, the door opened. He saw Emma coming out, her dark blonde hair wet and clean, and wearing a dark red silk dressing gown. She looked tired.

He hated to admit it, but seeing her in that dressing gown made his heart skip a bit. He was so used to seeing her in her lab coat that seeing her in something other than that was like a shock to the system. But God, did she rock that fucking dressing gown...

Bucky swallows and looks away as she sits down on the bed, sighing. "Today's just been a horrible day," she says quietly, looking over at him. "I'm sorry about everything that you've been dragged into, Bucky."

He shakes his head. "It's nothing, doll." She raises an eyebrow.

"Doll? Don't think I've ever heard that from you." Bucky looks over, and she spots a tint of red appear on his cheeks.

"Well usually you ain't dressed up like a doll," he mumbles. Her brow raises even more. If possible, his cheeks turn redder. "I didn't mean-"

"I know," she chuckles, before walking over to him.

Bucky looks up at her as she sits down next to him, glancing at the files, and then at him himself. She sees how his eyes glance down at her lips and then back at her, before moving away. Emma bites her lip and then reaches over, taking his metal hand.

"Does it hurt?" she asks quietly. He looks over at her with a furrowed brow. "Your hand. Does it?"

"No…not a lot…" he mumbles, still looking at her. His eyes once again move to her lips, and hers to his. "You're dating someone, we shouldn't do this," he states.

Her hand comes up to cup his cheek. "…I want to."

And with those words coming from her mouth, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

The kiss felt so passionate, warm and tender that it made Emma dizzy. She moaned softly in his mouth, and he pulled her into him as they kissed each other passionately.

Calvin never kissed her like this. With him it was always about dominance and needing to be on top, but Lord it felt so good. She slid her hands under his black t-shirt, causing him to growl low in his throat, before he started moving his lips down her neck, inhaling her intoxicating scent.

Bucky had never wanted a woman as much as he wanted Emma in that moment. He could feel her naked body underneath the red silk dressing gown.

Oh hell, he wanted her badly.

"Wait, I don't want to do it like this," he said breathlessly, pulling away for a quick second. "You're…my doctor and…" He felt her hands slide into the waistband of his black sweatpants and cup his hardened cock. He groaned and started thrusting against her hand.

Oh, she wanted to play like that.

"Make me feel good, James. Make me feel something," Emma whispered quietly. Bucky groaned at hearing those words and started kissing her again.

What was this woman doing to him?

* * *

Jessica had gone for a walk to clear her mind and she looked around the empty street. She quietly placed some lilies near the park in respect to Patricia.

"I'm so sorry, Trish," she whispered quietly. As she said her respects, she was about to go back to the hospital, when she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Cautiously, she followed it.

And that was when she saw an abandoned house. It looked empty and rundown, but the door in the front was casually swung open. Jessica cautiously walked towards it, and that was when she saw a shadow upstairs.

Was someone in there?

Deciding to call someone, she debated biting her lip. After a moment, she opted to call Clint, who picked up after the first ring.

"Jess, what's up?" Clint asked quietly. Jessica bit her lip and took in a deep breath, before she began to speak.

"I went for a walk and I saw something, so I followed it. There's someone in this abandoned house," Jessica explained quickly, knowing Clint would be angry.

"What the hell, Jess?" Clint asked angrily. He was annoyed that Jessica would put herself at risk like this, and hung up. Jessica looked around wearily.

Something felt very wrong.

* * *

Clint pulled on his black leather jacket and grabbed his bow, along with making sure that he had his knife and a gun on a holster. He left the hotel room and went to the place where Jessica had said where she was.

He couldn't believe she'd go off on her own. He was pissed off and angry. Once he found her waiting near an abandoned house, she looked relieved at seeing him.

"What the hell were you thinking, Jess? There's a damn serial killer on the loose!" He said angrily.

Jessica sighs. "I know, I know. I just wanted to come out here and pay my respects for Trish but I…I saw something move, Clint. It wasn't just an animal, it was some big shadow and it's in this house and…" He could tell that from how she was breathing she was either going to have a heart attack or pass out.

Clint quietly places his hands on her shoulders. "Jess, take a breath," he says to her softly. Quietly, she breathes in and out slowly, looking up at him. As soon as her heartbeat slows down, it sped right back up when they heard a crash from above.

Clint instantly moved Jessica behind him as he stepped into the house, bow drawn. Quietly, he slowly hands Jessica the pistol. She looks at him incredulously.

"Clint?"

"You know how to use one of those, right?" She gulps and nods. "Good. Use it if you have to." Jessica bites her lip and undoes the safety, keeping the gun in her hands. She had used one before years ago.

Never did she think she would ever have to use it for this type of situation.

The pair head up the stairs and there's another crash. Only this time it's followed by a child's cry. Clint instantly breaks down the door to see a young boy stringed up against the wall, and someone holding him down. Whoever it was dropped the boy and turned around.

It was the fucking clown.

Jessica, as trigger happy as she could be, shot the clown, giving the boy enough time to escape behind them. The clown shouts out in anger and runs towards them. Clint shoots an arrow, enough for the three and the boy to escape down the stairs.

But oh, that clown ran right behind them.

Each and every squeak of the floorboards beneath their feet made each step eerily louder but as soon as the three burst outside, Clint turns around, arrow aimed.

But the clown was gone. It was like he had disappeared into thin air.

Clint turns to see Jessica comforting the crying boy. She looks back up at him, sadness in her eyes. He walks over to the boy and wraps an arm around him, deciding to ask questions later. If Jessica hadn't come here and called him, the boy would have died.

She saved a child.

"C'mon, let's get him back to the hotel," Clint says to Jessica quietly. She gulps and nods, picking up the boy in her arms. Clint looks around, taking back her pistol and keeping it in his hands. The last thing he wanted was for that fucking clown to come back out and for him not to be ready.

But for now, getting them to safety was the first thing on his mind.

* * *

Meanwhile over in Bucky's room, he was in heaven. He always knew Emma was a pretty woman from the moment he started working with her, but he never imagined that she would be kissing him like this, or touching him like she was.

It was…stupendous. Amazing. Fantasy. Literally something he never thought would happen to him. Especially with her.

Now, she was in his lap, with her arms wrapped around his neck, their lips stuck in a passionate embrace. He couldn't stop kissing her. Didn't want to stop. And the thought of someone not wanting to kiss her made him angry and pleased at the same time.

As her hands slid under his shirt again, he pulls away. "Emma…I think you're just feeling grief," he admits breathlessly.

She looks at him, confused. "You…you don't want this? I thought…"

He shakes his head, placing his hand on hers. "Trust me, Emma, I do. I really do." He closes his eyes. "You have no idea. But…even if we do…I don't want our first time to be like this. And you're…. you're with someone, for God's sake, even if he…"

He swallows and looks away. She looks at the ground. "I haven't been happy in that relationship for a long time, Bucky." She looks over at him. "But ever since I've started working with you, laughing with you, talking with you…I've just realized how much I missed having an actual friend as a partner and…you're just really sweet and kind and…just really fucking hot and I can't stand it that some other girl is going to get you."

She stands up after that, walking over to the dresser in the room, as if to leave. He instantly stands. "Emma, don't leave."

"Why not? I made a fool of myself."

"No, you didn't. Come here." She continues to grab her stuff. "Emma. Now." Her hands pause and she looks over at him, before slowly coming over. "Listen to me, you didn't ruin anything. I want you…so badly. You're literally the best girl I think I've ever met in my life." She blushes and looks down. "Someone who has so much hope and happiness for ere aren't a lot of people like that now…but why me? Why not someone normal?"

She looks over at him, before slowly _placing_ her hands on his chest. "Because I don't want normal. I tried that, and it bored me." She looks up at him. "I know Calvin isn't being faithful to me. I can smell it on him. And I don't really care anymore, but I can't leave him, not yet. He's too dangerous right now to leave him." She looks down at his lips. "But I can be with you…and I want to be…in any way you want me."

Oh, fuck. Her words were going to drive him crazy. "Shouldn't say stuff like that, doll," he warns her.

"Why say something you don't mean? I mean every word."

Have mercy.

"Not here, Emma." He pulls her down to the bed. "I want to do it somewhere special. Something just for us." He pushes away her messy hair from her shower. "But I do want to kiss you more. Think I can do that?"

* * *

 _AN: Enjoy and review :)_


	7. Surprise Plan

Summary: Desperate to save her sister, even if that means breaking the laws, Emma Webster finds herself bonding with Bucky Barnes, who struggles to regain the memories stolen from him. Clint Barton struggles to cope, following a devastating betrayal, while Jessica Webster tries to hold herself together in the face of her looming death. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Bucky/OC, Clint/OC, Wanda/OC, Steve/Darcy, Natasha/Matt Murdock, Tony/Pepper, and Sam/Sharon. Rated M.

A Tangled Web

Chapter 7

* * *

"You can do that, James," Emma said quietly. Bucky pulled her into him and began gladly kissing her again, his stubble tickling her face as they fell onto the bed.

Clint and Jessica had phoned the police and the officers had picked up the little boy, who had been revealed to be Tommy Kraev. He had been rushed to the hospital to be tended to, and they had given their witness statements.

Clint glanced at the notebook that Jessica had written her bucket list in, and curiously read it. He heard her in the shower and hoped that she wouldn't be pissed off, but he had to admit he was curious about stuff that she had written down.

He noticed that she had added things to the list, which included going to a nightclub, having alcohol…his eyebrows arched slightly when he saw what she had written.

 _'9: Go clubbing and let my hair down._

 _10: See a sunset._

 _11: Go to Hawaii and try out surfing._

 _12: Ride a motorcycle._

 _13: Watch the stars, I've always liked seeing the stars at night._

 _14: Lose my virginity somehow, I don't want to die a virgin.'_

That was what she'd written so far. Clint tried really hard to ignore the part about her virginity, but it was really fucking standing out to him. He didn't need to read that…but he could feel his cock harden slightly.

Fuck.

He had tried to deny it, but he did like Jessica. She was funny, smart-smarter than him, seeing as he was a high school dropout-she didn't take anyone's bullshit, and was kind.

Not to mention sexy…beautiful, really.

 _'Get your mind out of the fucking gutter, Barton. You're fucking thirty-one years old, and she's twenty-three. It's weird and she's too good for a guy like you,'_ he thought angrily. The bathroom door opened, and he saw Jessica coming out.

Oh, holy shit.

She was in a pair of black sweatpants and a grey tank top. He was trying his damned best not to embarrass himself but it was hard, considering the beautiful woman he was sharing a room with.

"Everything ok, Clint?" Jessica asked softly. Clint nodded and drank some water from his plastic cup. That fucking line in her list was going to fuck him up for a while. He watched as she got into the bed, and bit her lip.

"I'm fine, how are you holding up?" he asked quietly. Jessica was quiet for a while and sighed.

"I'm ok…I just wonder who that clown is…how he's been doing this for so long," she said finally. Clint was silent, as they both silently wondered who the clown was.

* * *

Patricia's funeral was held in a Catholic Church, and it was a beautiful service. Roses were placed on the coffin, and they went to a local bar for the wake. The mood was sad, but comforting in the fact that Patricia could now rest in peace. She was buried next to her father, Jonathan, who had died from a stroke.

The police confirmed to the press that they had a suspect and were questioning him.

Jessica sighs. She knew that someday this might have a happy ending, but she didn't believe that the guy they had was the person she saw. Whoever was that clown it was something almost supernatural. Whoever were these people who were constantly tracking them down, that's who they were. And it was scary as shit.

Later, in the day, once the funeral was over and she was walking out of the cemetery, she was greeted by someone riding up to her on a motorcycle. She raises an eyebrow as the person takes off his helmet, and laughs once she saw it was Clint.

"The hell are you doing?" she chuckles. Clint shrugs and pats the seat behind him. Her brow raises even more. "What are you talking about?"

"One of the things on your bucket list was to ride a bike, right?" He gestures to the seat behind him. "Then here's your back. Bringing you back to the tower to rest. I can see it in your eyes that you're exhausted." He didn't want to admit it was from the sickness. He just kept using the excuse that she was tired from the stressful days.

If he just kept using that excuse, it made the thought of her dying less painful than it already was.

Jessica smiles and walks over to him. "That's awful sweet, but…I really don't think it's a great idea," she says quietly. Clint sighs.

"Jessica, you need to learn to trust people. Don't you trust me?"

She looks at him quietly, almost biting her lip. His eyes were looking over at her with such an unreadable expression. But God, she knew what was behind those eyes. Years of being betrayed, of having trust broken. And she knew he was just waiting for her to break it as well.

But luckily for him, she really wasn't that kind of girl.

"Of course, I do," she confirms. "I'm just…kinda scared of falling off." Clint chuckles and reaches over, taking her hand. A chill of electricity suddenly went up her spine, and she looked at him with soft eyes.

"Just hold onto me and you won't fall." He helps her onto the bike and gives her another smile, before handing her a helmet. "And always use protection on these things…they can get messy." The two place helmets on themselves, before Clint revs up the bike. "Hold on!" he warns.

Hold on, she does. Her arms wrap around him as tightly as a vice grip once the bike starts to move, so quickly that she's yelling. And soon, that yelling turns to laughs of pleasure, looking around her, hair flying in the wind.

She was on a bike. She was doing something from her list. She was…living.

* * *

Emma had gotten back to the lab early after the funeral, wanting to find exactly where in Hawaii she could find all these spiders. Just because all of this stuff had been happening lately, from her sister to the clowns to this…weird thing between her and Bucky, she hadn't forgotten why she was here.

It wasn't just for the Avengers. It was for her sister too.

As she looked through her findings once more, she heard the door open a bit. Emma looks up to see Bucky heading through there. Instantly, her cheeks turn a dark red.

Ever since that night they had kissed, that hadn't really talked about it. And they should have considering they were going to be going around the world together. But Emma was the awkward type. The person who kind of just waited for things to solve themselves out.

But sadly, she knew she wasn't going to be the case this time.

"Hey," she says quietly. He walks over to her. "I thought we agreed we weren't going to have a session today."

He shrugs. "I wanted to see you again after today. Shit has just been crazy." Emma looks at him quietly as he walks over to her table, looking down at the papers strewn upon the marble surface. "Still trying to find exactly where?"

"It's harder than you think," she mumbles. Emma sighs before looking back at him. "Bucky…whatever happened a couple nights ago…"

Instantly she saw his face fall and he glances away. "I'm sorry, it got out of hand. Won't happen again," he mutters, going to step away. Instantly, Emma reaches out and grabs his hand.

"Stop." He looks over at her. "This isn't your fault, Bucky. It's mine." She swallows. "Look…it's me who told you to kiss me. It's all me…and I don't regret that. You…that kiss was the most emotion I've felt kissing someone in years, before even Calvin. And you…Calvin is so dangerous, but you make me feel so safe and…"

She didn't know how to talk any more so she just looked down at the ground, clearly embarrassed. Bucky walks over and tilts her head up. Her soft eyes stare at his own, silently, with their own words.

"I really like you, James," she says to him quietly. Bucky leans down and kisses her lips slowly, as if testing the waters. Once she placed her hands on his chest, his grip tightened on her chin and one of his arms wrapped around her, pulling her into him.

A moment later, they pull away, foreheads against foreheads. "Can't find that in the forest, can you," he mumbles to her.

She chuckles, but then freezes. "Forest, forest…fuck, why didn't I think of that?!"

She suddenly breaks from his embrace and comes over to her findings, before smiling bright.

"Yes! Waimea Canyon! It's the largest forest in Hawaii, that's where all the spiders would be!" She turns to him. "That's where I have to go, that's what I can do."

Bucky looks at her quietly before nodding. "Then I'll come too."

Emma sighs. "Bucky, you don't have to come to protect me, I can-"

"I'm coming because I want to be with you," he admits. "Not just protecting. Just want to be with you. Hawaii sounds like a fun place to be…not just because it's you." She chuckles and walks over to him again. "Really, Em…I just wanna help you."

Emma smiles a bit and nods. "Alright…but this…whatever this relationship between us is, we have to keep it under wraps, especially there. I gotta go there for business primarily…my sister could actually be saved because of me. I could actually be a saviour," she whispers in awe.

"You've found out a new way to cure blood cancer, Emma. You should be proud of yourself, doll," Bucky said proudly, impressed by her skills and determination to find a cure to save Jessica.

Emma smiled. Before she could stop herself, she kissed him softly on the mouth, causing Bucky to shift slightly before he quite happily kissed her back.

She cared deeply for this man.

* * *

Jessica had never felt so happy as she did on the back of Clint's motorcycle. The wind was blowing her dark brown hair all around her, as they pulled up in the Stark Tower car park.

She had never felt so happy. Her hair was windblown and her clothes were rumpled but she didn't care. She smiled at Clint who smiled back as she gave him the helmet.

"Thank you…for doing that, Clint. It was fun," she said honestly. Clint smiled then, pleased that she'd enjoyed riding the motorcycle with him

He'd fulfilled one of her wishes on her bucket list.

Now he just needed to do the rest of the list for her. He had an idea and he just needed to run it past Emma and the other members of the team.

Hopefully, it wouldn't blow up in his face, like his other personal problems had done.

* * *

Natasha rarely approved of playing match maker, but when Pepper, Darcy, and the others suggested that they set up Clint and Jessica as a couple, she willingly agreed.

Clint was like the little brother she'd never had. She wanted to see him happy, especially after what Laura had done to him. She knew Clint had feelings for Jessica. There was something there.

She didn't really know Jessica personally, but she was friendly, polite, gentle and didn't take anyone's bullshit. Natasha looks ahead, as she saw Jessica ready for the training session. At least she was willing to do even this, even with her sickness.

She was thin, probably due to the cancer. But her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes had a twinkle in them. She tied up her dark brown hair in a messy bun.

"So, what kind of martial arts do you know?" Natasha asked curiously. Jessica looked deep in thought.

"I know judo, and Krav Maga, but I had to stop doing it when I was in high school. Doctors said I wouldn't be strong enough to do it," Jessica explained quietly. Natasha saw her looking longingly at the gymnastics equipment along with the ballet studio.

Emma had told Natasha that after Jessica had been diagnosed with leukaemia, she hadn't been able to do ballet, gymnastics or horse riding anymore due to being sick all the time. It sounded horrible. But Natasha couldn't let her know that she felt pity. Jessica wasn't about that.

"That's fine. We'll start with what you know and then go on from there, Jess," Natasha said reassuringly. And then, they began doing warm-ups, with the others.

And honestly, it wasn't so bad.

* * *

Clint had no idea why, but Tony announced that the Avengers had been invited to a gala dinner and dance afterwards. It was a bit…strange. But it was something. Tony added that they were expected to bring a date with them.

He glanced at Jessica, and saw she was writing an article for WHIH News and sent it to Christine. She takes a sip from her glass of water, and he looked down at the ground.

Would she want to go with him?

He silently walked over. She smiled at him as he sat down next to her. Lucky was fast asleep after eating his meal with the cats burrowed into his side.

"I was wondering…would you like to go to the gala dinner with me?" Clint asked quickly, trying really hard not to look like a fool in front of her.

But luckily, he didn't need to face that. Because she smiled brighter than the fucking sun. And he hated to admit it, but the smile made something in his heart shift, something he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"Of course, Clint," she says happily. "I'd love to go with you." Clint smiles and nods.

"Just…ya know, one of those things where-"

He was sort of walking all over himself with this, so she chuckles and nods. "I know, Clint." She hands him a glass of water from where she sat. "It's one of those things." He smiles as he takes the glass, happy she shut him up before he could embarrass himself even more.

He looks over at her article and raising an eyebrow. "What are you working on?" he asks quietly. She smiles.

"Just something about all the killings that are happening…the last thing I want is for something like this to happen again, so I gotta…do something to expose it." She looks over at Clint. "Even if my time is limited, it doesn't mean I can't do something to help."

He was starting to hate hearing her say that.

* * *

Bucky glanced over at Emma as she looked deeper into her locations for the trip. He had to admit that he had a lot on his mind, considering this whole gala thing Tony had told them about. It wasn't that he didn't mind dancing. He used to love it back when he was…well, him.

But it wasn't that. It was the idea of who to go with. And he wanted Emma. But…with everything she was doing, he had a feeling she didn't want to go to any dance. She had better things on her mind.

Even then, he quietly walked over to her as she was working. He had been staying in the lab more now. Since he had gotten back a lot of his memories, he had spent hours in the quiet, watching Emma work, or reading things that Steve gave to him.

Speaking of him, he was currently on a mission doing God knows what. He would be back soon…and Bucky knew he had to tell him about what happened with him and Emma.

"Hey," he says quietly. She looks over at him. "There's this dance, and…I know what we have is weird but…would you want to come with me to it?" She tilts her head, and almost a soft smile appears on her face, before she looks away. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"

"No, don't be sorry," Emma says quietly. She glances back at him. "I would like to go with you…I just worry that Calvin might be there and…" She looks away and sighs. "I don't want someone to get hurt, James. Especially you."

Bucky looks at her quietly before walking back to her side. He places his hand over hers, his metal hand, taking a chance. She surprisingly takes it back. "No one's going to hurt you, or me, or any of us. It's just something we can have fun at." She looks up at him. "Just us." She smiles softly, and then nods.

She said yes.

He leans down and pecks her lips. A gentler kiss than the previous ones. And after a moment, the two pull apart. She smiles and blushes, looking back at her work. Bucky steps back and sits down, a grin the size of Asia on his face.

Finally, things seemed to be working in his favour.

* * *

As Jessica wrote an article one afternoon, she stood up to go get some water, when her head was suddenly hit with the epitome of wooziness. Her mind started to spin, and everything around her became blurry.

And that's when the pain started.

It only took one throw up session to remind her that yes, indeed, she was still dying. But after five throw up sessions, she knew that she had to do something or call someone or just pass out in her bed. The pain had come to a point where she couldn't stand.

She hated feeling like this. She hated being so sick. She hated being a burden.

She could call Emma…but she was busy. Clint could be of help, but she didn't want to intrude on him either.

She was shit out of luck.

Jessica slowly gets herself up, walking over to the bed. She places her head in her hands and groans to herself. The doctor did say she could smoke weed to ease the pain…

Would that really help?

* * *

 _Jessica's facing a dilemma. Enjoy and review :)_


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:**

I'm so sorry everyone, but I'm going to be taking a break from writing for two days. My depression is hitting me badly as of late, and I'm just struggling to cope.

I'll still be posting chapters, but I'm just struggling with everything right now, I'm feeling severely depressed, and upset. I haven't felt like this since I was sixteen years old and struggling with school issues.

I'll be posting chapters for Ghost Orchid, and the latest chapter for All Hallow's Eve is nearly finished, but I'm just struggling right now.


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